Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

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Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

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SIR HUDSON LOWE
AND NAPOLEON

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SIK HUDSON LOWE

{From a Pencil Draining in possession of Jiis DaiiglUcr)

SIR HUDSON LOWE
AND NAPOLEON

BY

R. C. SEATON

I

LONDON

DAVID NUTT, 270-271, STRAND

1898

t\.\7.'h^\%

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson 6^ Co.
At the Ballantyne Press

PREFACE

The following pages contain some matter -hitherto

unpublished. Miss C. M, S. Lowe, the only

surviving daughter of Sir Hudson Lowe, has also

kindly allowed me the use of a few letters and

other documents. The portrait of Sir Hudson

Lowe is from, a pencil drawing, in the possession

of Miss Lowe, made in 1832.

R. C. S.

CONTENTS

CHAr

TAGE

I.

THE QUESTION STATED

I

II.

BEFORE ST. HELENA .

13

III.

AT ST. HELENA .

40

IV.

AFTER ST. HELENA .

. 305

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

331

BIBLIOGRAPHY .

233

Sir Hudson Lowe and
Napoleon

CHAPTER I

THE QUESTION STATED

The character and career of Napoleon
form a subject of perennial interest. He
has already taken his place beside Mary
of Scotland and Oliver Cromwell, and
some other historical personages about
whom, after all is said, the most diverse
opinions are held. But we never get to
the end of Napoleon. Fresh volumes
about his life or portions of it are continu-
ally appearing. Not long ago we had
from the practised hand of Mr. T. P.

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

O'Connor a book exhibiting Napoleon
from many different points of view, both
■of friends and of enemies. A little
■earlier came Napoldon et les Feinmes from
M, Frederic Masson, a professed wor-
shipper. Mr. Baring-Gould has lately
brought out a new Life, and the monu-
mental work of Professor Sloane is just
completed. ^ No apology therefore is neces-
sary for an attempt to clear the character
of one whose name is indissolubly con-
nected with the closing scenes of the
Emperor's life, of one who has been so
maligned and calumniated that his name
has become a byword for peevishness of
temper, coarseness of language, and petty
persecution.- v/vit is scarcely necessary to
say that I refer to Sir Hudson Lowe, the
Governor of St. Helena during Napoleon's
•captivity, v/ French national pride has made
it a point of patriotism to cling to charges
long after they have been disproved, but

The Question Stated

something different might have been ex
pected from ourselves. Sir Hudson Lowe
makes no demand on our generosity ; he
claims only justice, and it is hard that now
that he has been more than half a century
in his grave this claim should not be
accorded to his memory. Soon after the
death of Napoleon, a small but noisy
group, aided by political interest, party
spite, and the specious statements of a
lying book, captured the ear of the public
to listen to their version of the treatment
of the Emperor at St. Helena, and they
have more or less kept it ever since. A
few months before the death of Sir Hudson
Lowe a writer in the United Service
Magazine, in October 1843, thus expressed
himself: "So complete a reaction has
taken place, in this country at least, that
it may now be doubted whether any man
of information and reflection can be found
to countenance opinions unfavourable to

3

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Sir Hudson Lowe." There are, however,
a good many such to be found even now.
No man, it is true, " of information and
reflection," much less an historian, ought
to entertain such opinions, but there is
considerable excuse to be made for the
British public. When people have once
had it instilled into their mind that some
atrocious deeds have been done, they do
not rest content (and all honour to them
for the feeling) till they have seen punish-
ment inflicted for the wrongdoing. But
they are not so careful about getting hold
of the real culprit. If they make some
one serve as an expiatory sacrifice their
virtue is apt to be satisfied. This was the
case here. vThey first admitted without
sufficient ground that Napoleon had been
ill-used, and then, finding it was possible
to make a victim of Sir Hudson Lowe,
they promptly sent him into the wilderness
to bear the sins of the British Govern-

4

The Question Stated

ment as well as his own, both equally
imaginary.!/ There is little similarity be-
tween Sir Hudson Lowe and Lord Byron,
yet they have this in common, that both,
though for very different reasons, have
been made scapegoats to save the charac-
ter of the nation. \l Byron was offered up
to vindicate our domestic virtue, Sir
Hudson Lowe to expiate our supposed
sins against Napoleon.ij There is also the
difference that Byron was guilty, while Sir
Hudson Lowe was innocent ; but of both
the remark of Macaulay on Byron holds
good : "He is a sort of whipping-boy,
by whose vicarious agonies all the other
transgressors of the same class are, it is
supposed, sufficiently chastised. . . At
length our anger is satisfied. Our victim
is ruined and heartbroken. And our
virtue goes quietly to sleep for seven
years more." Not only the public ear but
also the literature of the day, and more

5

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

especially that of France, became so
saturated with the notion of Napoleon as
a victim to the petty malevolence of his
so-called "jailer" and "executioner" that
people almost forgot there was another
side to the question. And they had the
good excuse that Sir Hudson Lowe him-
self had never spoken out when he might
have done so with effect : a fatal mistake
for which he paid the penalty to the day
of his death. The reason why he thus
acted will be dealt with later on. v It was
not till the publication of the History of
the Captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena.,
by the late Mr. William Forsyth, Q.C.,
nine years after the death of Sir Hudson
Lowe, that a full statement was made on
the other side.' His^haracter is there
completely vindicated,''it is true, but it is
also completely buried. ~^It is unreason-
able to expect the average reader to work
his way through three thick volumes
6

The Question Stated

weighted with numerous official docu-
ments. The materials are only too ample,
the vindication is only too complete.
What was wanted was a small book set-
ting out the salient facts in reasonable
compass. The three volumes, though
admirably written, are rather a storehouse
from which the necessary proofs may be
drawn. It is true the book has made a
certain impression on the public. It is no
longer possible to speak of Sir Hudson
Lowe with the same licence of abuse as
was heard previously ; but, while it is
allowed that "he was not a bad man," he
is still charged with harshness of temper,
want of courtesy, violence of language and
vacillation of purpose. »<But, if Forsyth's
book had made the impression that it
ought to have made, it would have been
impossible for a respectable firm to have
republished, even with certain omissions,^
O'Meara's A _yoice from St. Hel engjyi

7

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

have been speaking of the public only.
vFor the professed student or the historian,
after Forsyth's book, to persist in offen-
sive charges against Sir Hudson Lowe is
scarcely creditable. It may be admitted
that he was occasionally wanting in tact, but
with that exception the charges that are
still made against him show either that
certain writers have not read Forsyth's
book with sufficient care, or that they have
closed their eyes to the plainest evidencey
More than forty years ago Mr. Forsyth
wrote : " The historian has charged him
(Sir Hudson Lowe) with meanness and
cruelty, and the satirist has turned him
into ridicule. He has been painted as a
man whose conduct and language befitted
the turnkey of a gaol rather than a British
•officer intrusted with the execution of a
duty of unparalleled delicacy and impor-
tance. And even those who have duly
estimated the difficulty of his task, and

The Question Stated

suspected the veracity of his assailants,
have been unable to divest themselves of
an uneasy consciousness that he might
have performed his duty in a more
gracious manner. The tone of their de-
fence has been rather that of apology than
vindication. And for this I cannot but
think that Sir Hudson has himself been
in some degree to blame. When we con-
sider the ample materials he possessed
for refuting his enemies and putting the
libellers to shame, we cannot but marvel
that he should have allowed the grave to
close over him without having published
his defence to the world." * These words
are almost as true now as when they
were written. One honourable excep-
tion must be made in favour of the
writer of the notice on Sir Hudson
Lowe in the Dictionary of National

* History of the Captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena,

j. 122, 123.

9

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Biography. He has done justice to
the good intentions and excellent per-
formance of duty by the Governor of
St. Helena.

V One French writer — Lamartine — has
had the good sense and moral courage to
run counter to the prepossessions of his
fellow-countrymen in the following re-
markable words : "In reading with at-
tention the correspondence and notes
exchanged on every pretext between the
attendants on Napoleon and Sir Hudson
Lowe, one is confounded at the insults, the
provocations, and the invectives with which
the captive and his friends outraged the'
Governor at every turn.v ^Napoleon at that
time sought to excite by cries of pain
the pity of the English Parliament, and tO'
furnish a grievance to the speakers of the
opposition against the Ministry, in order
to obtain a removal nearer to Europe.y
The desire of provoking insults by insult.

The Question Stated

and of afterwards exhibiting these insuhs
as crimes to the indignation of the Con-
tinent is plainly evident in all these
letters."*

In days past Sir Hudson Lowe has
been, as Forsyth puts it, a bite-noire of
the French imagination ; but Truth, it is
said, is the daughter of Time, and I have
written the following pages in the hope
that the fair-minded Frenchman and the
average Englishman may now be disposed
to regard the events at St. Helena in the
dry light of historical fact. In any case, to
do justice to the memory of Sir Hudson
Lowe can cast no aspersion on the repu-
tation of Napoleon.

* Histoire de la Restauration, vi. 416.

CHAPTER II

BEFORE ST. HELENA

Hudson Lowe, only son of John Hudson
Lowe, surgeon of the 50th Regiment of
Foot, was born at Galway in 1 769, a year re-
markable for the birth of Napoleon himself
and several others connected with his his-
tory. The Duke of Wellington, Marshals
Ney and Soult, and Lord Castlereagh were
all born in this year. He was educated
at Salisbury School, and in the eighteenth
year of his age received a commission in
the regiment of which his father was still
surgeon. At this time it was stationed at
■Gibraltar, and there young Hudson Lowe
remained till 1792. He now obtained

Before St. Helena

leave of absence and travelled through
Italy, which gave him the opportunity
of acquiring a thorough knowledge of
Italian — a knowledge which was of much
use to him in after life. To this he after^
wards added Spanish and Portuguese..
His first service was on the expedition
to Corsica under Sir David Dundas. In
1795 he received a Captain's commission
and was appointed Deputy Judge-Advo-
cate in Elba. Next he served in Portugal
under Sir C. Stuart, and was sent to-
Minorca to take charge of a corps of
Corsicans then being raised. Captain
Lowe took part in the Egyptian Expe-
dition, and, with the temporary rank
of Major, commanded the Corsicans from
Minorca who formed part of the reserve
under Sic John Moore. " The vigilance
and method with which he conducted out-
post duty," says the writer of the Memoir
of Sir Hudson Lowe in the United Service
13

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Magazine,* "was conspicuous and pro-
cured a pointed eulogium from General
Moore, ' Lowe,' were his words, ' when
you're at the outposts I always fee;! sure
of a good night's rest.' " Of the Corsican
corps and its commander, Sir Robert
Wilson writes as follows in his History
of the British Expedition to Egypt : " This
corps in every action, and especially in the
landing, distinguished itself particularly,
and Major Lowe, who commanded it,
gained always the highest approbation.
Indeed, it was a corps which from its
conduct and appearance excited general
admiration, and did honour to the nation
■of the First Consul of France."

After the peace of Amiens Major Lowe
-was appointed to the 7th Fusiliers, and
-shortly afterwards one of the perma-
nent Assistant Quartermasters-General.
-General Sir John Moore remained his

* April 1844, p. 593-
14

Before St. Helena

firm friend, and as it is rightly con-
sidered a distinction laudari a laudato
viro, to be praised by one whom others
praise, one of several letters to Major
Lowe may be quoted here :—

" Chatham, zisi April, 1802.

" My dear Lowe, — I congratulate you most
sincerely on your appointment to the Fusiliers.
It is nothing more than you well deserve; and
if I have been at all instrumental in bringing it
about I shall think the better of myself for it.
I hope before we leave that the Fusiliers will be
at home, and in a way to be actively employed.
I trust you will always consider me as a person
warmly interested in your welfare, and that you
will let me hear from you occasionally ; and if
duty or pleasure bring you near me, now or here-
after, you may depend upon the best reception I
can give. — Believe me, very sincerely and faith-
fully, " John Moore."

When the peace proved to be hollow,
Major Lowe was selected by the Govern-
ment, in July 1 803, to proceed on a secret
mission to Portugal in order to inspect the

15

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

troops and fortresses along the frontier,
and report on the practicability of defend-
ing the country by united British and
Portuguese forces. On the termination of
this mission he was employed to raise the
regiment of Royal Corsican Rangers, of
which he was appointed Lieut.-Col. Com-
mandant, and, taking part in the expedition
to Naples under Sir James Craig, made
frequent journeys to Naples and Sicily.
In June 1806 Lowe was placed by Sir
John Stuart (who had succeeded Sir James
Craig) in command of the island of Capri,
which had lately been captured by Sir
Sidney Smith, Here he remained with
five companies of the Corsican Rangers
as a garrison, which was subsequently
strengthened by the remainder of the
Corsicans and the Maltese regiment.
Soon after his arrival at Capri, Colonel
Lowe showed his humanity by addressing

a letter of remonstrance to General Berthier,

16

Before St. Helena

then chief of the staff of the French army
in Naples, in which he appealed to him to
put a stop to the numerous military execu-
tions in Calabria. For more than two
years Colonel Lowe was Governor at
Capri, until, in October 1808, the island
was attacked by a powerful French naval
and military expedition from Naples, and,
after a siege of thirteen days, compelled to
surrender, chiefly owing to the misconduct
of the Maltese regiment and the want of
naval assistance. Colonel Lowe, however,
refused to come to any other terms than
those of a free evacuation with arms and
baggage — terms which were after somediffi-
culty accorded. It is true that Sir William
Napier, in his History of the Peninsular
War, says that it was at Capri "Sir
Hudson Lowe first became known to
history, by losing in a few days a post that,
without any pretensions to ability, might
have been defended for as many years."
17 B

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

We cannot be surprised that the enemies
of Sir Hudson Lowe have eagerly seized
on this unfortunate remark of the illustrious
historian, for unfortunate and unjust it is,
and it is a sufficient reply to say that officers
at the time and near the spot, who had
every opportunity of judging, expressed a
very different opinion. Thus, Major-
-General Lord Forbes wrote to Colonel
Lowe : " I am convinced that Sir John
Stuart will take an early opportunity of
expressing to you, as well as to the public,
the sense he entertains of the unremitting
zeal, ability, and judgment which your con-
duct has displayed under your late trying
circumstances at Capri," and Sir John
Stuart himself, the Commander-in-Chief,
wrote : "I am happy, to express my perfect
satisfaction at your own able, gallant, and
judicious conduct, as well as at the zealous
and animated support which you acknow-
ledge to have received from your officers

i8

Before St. Helena

and those brave soldiers who adhered to
and returned with you hither in the defence
of the town of Capri : a point which, after
your first most unexpected and unaccount-
able disaster at Ana Capri, could scarcely
any longer be regarded as a military post."
It has also been represented that the gar-
rison consisted of 2000 men and the French
assailants of 1 200 ; the fact being that the
garrison, exclusive of officers, was 1361
men, while the French were between 3000
and 4000.

In 1809, under the chief command of Sir
John Stuart, Colonel Lowe with his Cor-
sicans formed part of the force that cap-
tured the islands of Ischia and Procida,
and Lowe made the capitulation of Ischia
with the French general, by which the
garrison was forced to surrender as
prisoners of war. In the same year
Colonel Lowe was appointed second in
■command on the expedition to the Ionian
19

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Isles, and conducted the landing on Zante,
after which Cephalonia and Cerigo sur-
rendered. General Oswald, who was in
command of the military forces, appointed
Lowe to be Governor in Cephalonia,
"certain that so delicate a trust could not
be reposed in more able hands."* He con-
tinued to administer the civil government
of Cephalonia, with which Ithaca was soon
afterwards united, during the end of 1809
and the beginning of 18 10. Colonel Lowe
then urged on General Oswald the advis-
ability of securing the island of Santa
Maura, which contained a strong fortress
and was in immediate proximity to the
coast. The expedition was successfully
carried out and Colonel Lowe was thanked
three times in the public despatches. The
island of Santa Maura was then added to
the civil government of Cephalonia and
Ithaca, and for two years Colonel Lowe
* Despatch, October 5, 1809.

Before St. Helena

administered it without special remunera-
tion. He prepared a report on the island
for the Colonial Office, and on his depar-
ture was presented by the grateful inhabit-
ants with an address of thanks and a gold
sabre. Lowe returned home in February,
1812, on leave, having lately obtained the
rank of full colonel. He says : " I was
then in my twenty-fourth year of service,
and had never been absent a single day
from my public duty since the commence-
ment of the war in 1793. I had been in
England only once during that time, and
then only for a period of six months during
the peace of Amiens."

Colonel Lowe was already known to
Government as an active, vigilant, and
trustworthy officer, especially fitted for
foreign missions on account of his know-
ledge of languages, when at the beginning
of 181 3 he was appointed to a position in
which his talents could be displayed on a

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

larger scale. In January he was sent on a
secret mission to the north of Europe to
inspect the Russian- German legion, a body
raised principally from the deserters and
prisoners of the contingents impressed
by Napoleon into his Russian campaign.
Lowe went first to Sweden and saw
Bernadotte, then Prince Royal, at Stock-
holm. From here he crossed the Gulf of
Bothnia on the ice, and joined Lord
Cathcart, the British Ambassador to Russia,
at the Emperor Alexander's headquarters
at Kalisch in Poland, where he quite won
the confidence of that monarch. In May
he joined the headquarters of the Allies
and was present at the battle of Bautzen,
on which occasion he had his first view of
Napoleon. Lowe was next ordered to
inspect the whole of the Hanoverian and
German forces in British pay, and was sent
by Lieutenant-General Lord Stewart to
join the Russian and Prussian army under

22

Before St. Helena

Field- Marshal Blueher.' Thus he hap-
pened to be present at the battle of Leipsici
Next he was summoned for another tour
of inspection in the north of Germany,
and, in January 1814 ordered to rejoin
Bluchers army during the campaign- in
France. As the only English officer of
rank with this army, Colonel Lowe's
position was one of great importance and
responsibility, and General Stewart compli-
rhents him on the clearness and detailed
nature of his despatches. In this capacity
he was present with the Prussian army in
thirteen general engagements. When the
fighting was over Colonel Lowe was the
officer selected to bring to England the
news of the abdication of Napoleon and
capitulation of Paris, for which service he
received the honour of knighthood. The
Prussian Order of Military Merit followed
him home, and on his return to Paris the
Emperor Alexander conferred on him the
23

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Russian Order of St. George. He was
also made a K.C.B. and promoted in June
to the rank of Major-General. During
the summer General Lowe was appointed
Quartermaster-General of the army in
the Netherlands, and was required to
inspect and report on the state of the
fortresses to be established as a barrier
against France. Colonel Basil Jackson
'. — afterwards an intimate friend of Sir
Hudson Lowe and at this time a
very young officer on the Staff — thus
speaks of his first acquaintance with
him : " About this time Sir Hudson
Lowe was appointed Quartermaster-Gfenr
eral, succeeding Colonel, afterwards Lord,
Cathcart. ... His successor proved to be
all we could desire, as an active, diligenti
and accomplished officer, who not only
worked hard himself but also kept his
officers on the alert, evincing towards them

at the same time the utmost considera-

24

Before St. Helena

tion."* In September, Sir Hudson Lowe
had occasion to write to General Count
Gneisenau, the chief of Blucher's Staff, an
officer whose admirable talents are too
well known to need any encomium. Count
Gneisenau had long been a warm friend of
Sir Hudson Lowe, and in his reply begins
with the following strong expressions of
regard^the original is in French : " It is
with the greatest satisfaction, my very dear
and honoured General, that I have received
your letter of the 15th of September, which
tells me that you have still preserved the
remembrance of a man who is infinitely
attached to you, and who in the course of
a memorable campaign, if there ever were
one, has learnt to appreciate your rare
military talents, your profound judgment
on the great operations of war, and your
imperturbable sang-froid in the day of
battle. These • rare qualities and your

** Waterloo and St. Helena, p. 7.
25

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

honourable character will link me to you
eternally.*' Again, if I may anticipate a
little, I am tempted to quote a passage
from a letter by the same writer to Sir
Hudson .at St. Helena, in October 1817,
which well expresses the general confidence
felt on the Continent in the vigilance of
the Governor — I translate again from the
French : " Thousands of times have I
carried my thoughts over that vast ocean
solitude to that interesting rock on which
you are the guardian of the public repose
of Europe. On your vigilance and on
your force of character depends our safety ;
if you were to relax your rigorous care
against the wiliest villain in the world,* if
you were to allow your subordinates to
grant him any favours through a mistaken
pity, our repose would be compromised^
and honest folks in Europe would be a
prey to their old anxiety. I have, often

* Le plus ruse scelerctt du mqnde,
z6

Before St. Helena

been questioned on this point — I who was.
known to have the honour of your acquaint-
ance — and I always replied that I could
guarantee your loyalty, your sagacity, and
your vigilance. The most devoted of your
friends, I am so deeply interested in your
well being that I beg you across the sea
to have the goodness to give me news of
your health, your pleasures, your pains,
your domestic happiness, in short of all
that can interest a friend." As we shall
see, however. Sir Hudson Lowe showed,
in fact, much more leniency to Napoleon
than Count Gneisenau would have ap-
proved. Field-Marshal Blucher also wrote,
to Sir Hudson Lowe, in January 1815, aa
follows : " The recollection of a man whom,
during so very memorable an epoch as-
the last campaign, we have learnt to
esteem and respect, remains dear to us,
and will be ever dearly valued through,
life. On such grounds you may rely with.
27

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

confidence on the continuance of my attach-
ment and friendship, I wish you joy from
my heart on the important post which the
Prince Regent, in his confidence, has be-
stowed upon you, and I rejoice that the
choice has fallen upon a man so perfectly
■equal to fulfil the duties of it in its whole
■extent."

Sir Hudson Lowe was still Quarter-
master-General in the Netherlands when
Napoleon landed from Elba in March
1815, the Prince of Orange being then,
as before, Commander-in-Chief The
position of Sir Hudson Lowe was now
one of the highest importance, and he
soon had an opportunity of rendering a
signal service to his country, and- indeed
to Europe. By the authority of the Prince
of Orange, he had despatched a letter to
the Prussian headquarters urging that their
army should be assembled on the Meuse,
in a situation where it would be ready to
28

Before St, Helena

co-operate with the British in the defence
of Belgium. Accordingly, in spite of the
opposition of General Mufifling, chief of
the Staff, the Prussian army proceeded to
carry out this suggestion. But now, for
political reasons, the Prince of Orange and
his father the King of Holland drew back,
and were desirous of keeping the Prussian
army behind the Meuse. "The Prince of
Orange directed me," says Sir Hudson
Lowe, in a letter written from St. Helena
to Lord Bathiirst, "to write to General
Kleist or General Mufifling accordingly.
I told the Prince that, having been the
means of making these arrangements with
the Prussian army, by which it was ap-
proaching to act in concert with the British^
1 did not feel I could with propriety now
write to propose a different plan of opera-
tion. The Prince, however, insisted upon
the necessity of my writing, saying that,
the instructions he had received from the

89

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

King were positive. I then used every
■argument in my power to convince the
Prince, that, as a military measure, it was
the only one by which the Low Countries
■could then be saved, that to propose any-
thing contrary would be entirely against
my own opinion as the Quartermaster-
General of the Army ; and finding he
«till persevered in desiring me to write,
I was compelled at last to say to him that
1 could not consider the determination
"which had been taken as founded in any
reasons of a military nature, and that if
they were the result of political considera-
tions they were not of my competence to
write upon ; I therefore begged that he
would allow me to decline beyig the
medium of communication." It is per-
haps not too much to say that the firm-
ness of Sir Hudson Lowe on this occasion
enabled part of the Prussian army to be
present at Waterloo. It is pleasing to
30

Before St. Helena

record that subsequently the Prince of
Orange admitted the correctness of Sir
Hudson Lowe's judgment, and some
twenty years later, when King of Hol-
land, greeted him most warmly at a levee
of William IV.

In April the Duke of Wellington arrived
to take command of the allied army, and in
the beginning of May Sir Hudson Lowe
was appointed to the command of a body
•of English troops to act with the British
squadron under Lord Exmouth on the
south coast of France. Sir Hudson Lowe
was succeeded as Quartermaster-General
Ijy that gallant soldier Colonel Sir William
' Howe De Lancey, who was struck by a
•cannon-ball at Waterloo and died a few
■days later.* Sir Hudson Lowe afterwards
jnarried Colonel De Lancey's sister, the

* Of hitn the Duke of Wellington ■wrote in a despatch :
•" The death of this officer is a serious loss to myself and
£o His Majesty's service."

31

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

widow of Lieutenant-Colonel William,
Johnson. The duties of the British
forces in the south of France turned
out to be very light. Marseilles was at
once occupied without opposition, and
Toulon yielded to the Royalists on Sir
Hudson's approach. The conduct of Sir
Hudson Lowe procured for him the warm
esteem of the distinguished Admiral with
whom he had co-operated. " You have,
my dear Sir Hudson," writes Lord Ex-
mouth under the date of August 27, 1815,
from Marseilles, "my entire esteem and
regard, and I am sensible, had opportunity
been afforded us for more brilliant services,
that we should have woven our confidence'
into the most perfect and lasting friend-
ship." The letter ends with these words :
"God bless you. Sir Hudson ; may health,
success, and happiness attend you ! Be-
lieve me ever, your sincerely and faithfully
attached friend, Exmouth." The Muni-
32

Before St. Helena

cipal Council of Marseilles, it may be
mentioned, testified their respect for his
conduct during the occupation by voting
to him, as well as to Lord Exmouth,
a handsome piece ,of silver plate. i/On
August I, while at Marseilles, Sir
Hudson Lowe received a notification
that he was appointed Governor of St.
Helena, with the local rank of Lieu-
tenant-General, to have the charge of
the person of Napoleon, who had about
a fortnight previously taken refuge on
board the Bellerophon. 1/

I have been somewhat minute in tracing
the earlier career of Sir Hudson Lowe,
because, in view of what followed, it is
important to keep in mind the public
services he had rendered and the repu-
tation which he bore up to this time.l/ In
his Life of Napoleon, Lockhart says of Sir
Hudson Lowe that the utmost that could
be said against him was that his " ante-
33 c

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

cedents were not splendid." This is not
putting the matter fairly. One usually
confines the word "splendid" to services
which are in themselves exceptionally con-
spicuous, or which are, rendered so by the
high rank or position of the person who
performs them. In this sense the services
of Sir Hudson Lowe were not " splendid,"
nor could they have been so from the
nature of the case ; but they may be
described as most valuable and distin-
guished services, and such as had re-
peatedly earned the commendation of
Government. I could have quoted many
other letters from officers whose merit is
well known, all testifying to the high
esteem felt for Sir Hudson Lowe ; but
those which I have already given are
perhaps sufficient.

It is more to the point to observe that,
although it has often been said that Sir
Hudson Lowe was not an officer of suffi-

34

Before St. Helena

ciently high rank or distinguished career
to be entrusted with the custody of
Napoleon, this was by no means the
opinion of Ndpoleon himself until he
had quarrelled with the Governor, v In a
well-known letter to Sir Hudson Lowe,
dated December 19, 18 16, Count Las
Cases writes as follows — and on this par-
ticular point it suited him at the moment
to speak the truth : " ' A man is appointed
to take the command here,' we said (you,
sir, were the person alluded to), ' who
holds a distinguished rank in the army ;
he owes his fortune to his personal merit ;
his life has been passed in diplomatic
missions at the headquarters of the
Sovereigns of the Continent, where the
name, the rank, the power, the titles of
the Emperor Napoleon must have become
familiar to him.' . . . . ' This man,' we
said, 'in his diplomatic career will have
formed just notions both with respect to

35

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

persons and things. His arrival alone is
therefore a sufficient pledge of the favour-
able nature of his instructions with respect
to us.' ^^ Did you not tell me I said the
Emperor to us one day, ' that he was at
Champaubert and at Montmirail? We
have then probably exchanged a few cannon-
balls together, and that is always, in my
eyes, a noble relation to stand in.' Such
was the disposition in which Sir Hudson
Lowe was expected." '^ No doubt it is
here the object of Las Cases to contrast
the expectations they had formed of
Sir Hudson Lowe with the reality which
(according to their view) they experienced,
but these words are conclusive testiniony to
the nature of those expectations. 'Again,
Napoleon said to Colonel Sir George
Bingham, who commanded the troops at
St. Helena, when h^ heard of the arrival
of Sir Hudson Lowe: "I am glad of it;
I am tired of the Admiral (Sir George
35

Before St. Helena

Cockburn),* and there are many points I
should like to talk over with Sir Hudson
Lowe. He is a soldier and has served ; he
was with Bliicher ; besides, he commanded
the Corsican regiment and knows many of
my friends and acquaintances." t Let us
then hear no more of this ; if Napoleon
was satisfied with the antecedents of Sir
Hudson Lowe, surely no one else has a
right to complain of them. ^

The character borne by Sir Hudson

Lowe up to this date may be fairly summed

up in the words of Colonel Basil Jackson,

who wrote a short " tribute to his memory "

just after his death :

" I was honoured with the friendly notice of
Sir Hudson Lowe, and enjoyed much of his

* Rear-Admiral Sir George Cockburn took Napoleon
to St. Helena on the Northumberland, and was entrusted
with his safe custody until the arrival of Sir Hudson
Lowe.

t From a letter of Sir George Bingham to Sir Hudson
Lowe.'

37

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

confidence during a course of thirty years. I
knew him when his military reputation marked
him as an officer of the highest promise; I
witnessed his able conduct as Governor of
St. Helena; I saw him when the mahce of his
enemies bad gained the ascendant, and covered
him with unmerited opprobrium ; I beheld him
on his deathbed : and throughout these various
phases of his career I admired and respected his
character, while I truly loved the man. I knew
him to be a kind, indulgent, affectionate hus-
band and parent, a warm and steady friend, a
placable, nay, generous enemy, and an upright
public servant." *

This is a testimonial of which any man
might be proud, and if Sir Hudson Lowe
had died on the day he was appointed
Governor of St. Helena the sentiments'
here expressed would have been received
with universal applause. /And yet we are
asked to believe, on the authority of Mr,
Barry O'Meara and some of Napoleon's
fellow-exiles, that the character of Sir

* United Service Magazine, March 1844, p. 417.
38

Before St. Helena

Hudson Lowe was as nearly as possible
the reverse of all this ! That he was mean,
jealous, suspicious, tyrannical, utterly want-
ing in kindness and courtesy, fit only to be
a jailer or a hangman ! vNo one, as Juvenal
says, ever became base in a moment ; and
surely, before a shred of evidence is heard
on one side or the other, we have here
a psychological puzzle of no ordinary
difficulty.

39

CHAPTER III

AT ST. HELENA

A GREAT mass of literature has accumulated
round the events of Napoleon's exile at St.
Helena, and it would be a hopeless task to
attempt to deal with it in detail, or with all
the charges that have been brought against
Sir Hudson Lowe. I must therefore select
a few of the most striking, and point out
how easily they can be refuted. What is
really difficult is to clear away the dense
clouds of prejudice and misrepresentation
that still envelop the memory of Sir
Hudson Lowe and all that concerns him.
However, before dealing with the evidence,
such as it is, it is necessary to consider the
40

At St. Helena

circumstances altogether, and the aims and
objects of those on whose testimony Sir
Hudson Lowe has been condemned.

To select an officer upon whom should
be laid the responsibility for the safe
custody of Napoleon was no easy matter
for the British Government, and that they
appointed Sir Hudson Lowe shows the
high opinion they had formed of his vigil-
ance, conscientiousness, and general ability.
I am by no means claiming that he was
exempt from faults, and these faults I will
endeavour to state later ; but, whatever his
faults ^were, they were not those that have
been generally attributed to him. It may
be said fearlessly that the choice of Govern-
ment was fully justified by the conduct of
Sir Hudson Lowe in his arduous position,
and that the unmerited obloquy cast upon
him, and still "clinging to his memory in
the minds of many people, was mainly the
result of the efficient manner in which he
41

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

carried out his trust. As he repeatedly-
said, the office was not one that he had
sought ; but when once it was offered to
him he had too high a sense of duty to
decline it. Sir Hudson Lowe had, as we
have seen, high qualifications for the post.
On the other hand, it cannot be denied
that the service he had seen had happened
to be such that the new Governor could
scarcely be regarded by Napoleon as a
persona grata, and of this the Emperor was
not slow to remind him. For instance,
Sir Hudson Lowe had been in command
of the Corsican Rangers, a body of men
whom Napoleon not unnaturally regarded
as brigands and traitors to their country.
He had at the close of the war received
the submission of Toulon, the place from
which at the beginning of the war Napoleon
had driven the British, and where he had
first made his mark as a military genius.
Again, as we have seen. Sir Hudson Lowe
42

At St. Helena

had brought home the news of Napoleon's
abdication, and had been knighted for that;
very service. All these circumstances were
certainly personal arguments againsjt the
appointment of Sir Hudson Lowe, v' ,

Napoleon always contended that he gave
himself up only as the guest of the British
nation, and he claimed their hospitality as
such. He therefore regarded it as an act
of tyranny and injustice that he should be
treated as a prisoner of war. But this
view cannot bear inspection for a moment.
Napoleon in fact had no option but to
surrender, if he wished to escape a worse
fate. There was no hope for him. If he
was still to live he might take one of three
courses. He might have put himself at
the head of the army at the Loire for a
short period (but only to be killed or
captured) ; he might have let himself be
made prisoner ; or he might have sur-
rendered to one or other of his foes. The

43

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

last course, the one which he actually-
adopted, was also the best for himself.
He afterwards said he regretted he had
not surrendered to the Emperor of Russia
or the Emperor of Austria. Very probably
he did have this regret. We cannot of
course say what would have happened in
that case, but he would scarcely have
surrendered to the King of Prussia, for
Bliicher had publicly declared that he would
have had him shot over the grave of the
Due d'Enghien. (/It was idle then to pre-
tend that he came as a guest on board the
Bellerophon. '^^''The circumstances were very
different from what they were a year before,
when Napoleon had been allowed to take
the sovereignty of Elba."' He had returned
to France, and it was now evident that no
terms could bind him. "^ Savary and Las
Cases did all they could to induce Captain
Maitland, of the Bellerophon, to receive
Napoleon as the guest of the British nation ;

44

At St. Helena

but that officer declined, as a matter of
course, to enter into any engagement for
his Government, and simply undertook to
convey him safely to England. At a sub-
sequent period Las Cases himself admitted
thisV At that time Napoleon was not
regarded with the sentimental interest
which now attaches to his name and fate.
There was hardly a household in the United
Kingdom that could not point to the loss
of some one at least of its members through
the long continuance of the Great War.
In a celebrated passage Livy describes the
dream of Hannibal : " So he looked and
saw behind him a monstrous serpent moving
forwards, while trees and houses fell crash-
ing before it ; storm and a peal of thunder
followed. Then, as he asked in wonder
what the monstrous form portended, he
heard a voice say : ' Thou seest the desola-
tion of Italy ; go onwards on thy way ;
cast no look behind, nor question further,
45

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

nor try to draw the fates from their
obscurity.'"* On the track of Napoleon
followed the desolation of Europe, and
Shelley's lines, on hearing the news of his
death, are no exaggeration :

" Ay, alive and still bold," muttered Earth,

"Napoleon's fierce spirit rolled
In terror, and blood, and gold,

A torrent of ruin to death from his birth.
Leave the millions who follow to mould

The metal before it be cold,
And weave into his shame, which like the dead
Shrouds me, the hopes that from his glory fled."

At the time of Napoleon's surrender, an
■exile to St. Helena or elsewhere was con-
sidered very lenient treatment, for there
was then, as Sir Walter Scott reminds us,
a considerable party in England who were
in favour of handing him over to the
Government of Louis XVIII. It is true
that the Opposition in Parliament professed

* Livy, xxi. 23.
46

At St. Helena

a horror at the measure dealt out to
Napoleon, but that was merely because
they were the Opposition ; and if they had
been in power they could hardly have
resisted the will of the nation, which
demanded some measure of the sort, and
readily acquiesced in the banishment to
St. Helena. ^When then Napoleon con-
sidered it an outrage that he should be
banished to St. Helena at all, the person-
ality of the Governor was a minor matter.
As Las Cases wrote in a suppressed pas-
sage of his Journal : " The details of St.
Helena are unimportant: to be there at
all is the great grievance."*

i/The conduct of Napoleon and his suite
towards Sir Hudson Lowe was not due
merely to caprice or ill-temper, but was
the result of a carefully-settled plan by
which they hoped to secure their object,

* " Les details de Ste. Hfilene sont peu de chose ;
c'est d'y etre qui est la grande affaire,"

47

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

and that object was the Emperor's recall. >/

\IFor a long time they confidently expected

this, either through some revolution in

France, or even from a mere change of

Government in England.^ Thus, on the

fourth interview of Sir Hudson Lowe

with Napoleon, the latter said, in reply

to some question about a house : "In a

couple of years there will be a change

in the Ministry in England, or a new

Government in France, and I shall no

longer be here." Napoleon evidently

over-estimated the difference between the

Government and the Opposition in the

English Parliament. He thought that

the speeches of the Opposition, merely

made with the view of embarrassing their

opponents, really expressed their con-

■ victions, and that if Lord Holland and

his friends came into power he would

speedily be recalled from exile, for almost

from the first the treatment of Napoleon,

48

At St. Helena

like most other things, was made a party
cjuestion. In accordance with this de-
liberate plan it was necessary that
Napoleon and his grievances should be
put before the European, and more
especially the British, public, at any
cost. "It was his business to have
complaints," says Lockhart. The favourite
Napoleonic maxim, ' ' Policy justifies every-
thing," was constantly in request at St.
Helena, and the disciples did not fall far
short of their master in its application.

u"In pursuance of this system," says a
writer in the Hereford Journal, in 1853,
probably Colonel Jackson, "all communi-
cations from Sir Hudson, written or other-
wise, were to be misunderstood; points
which it was well known to be out of the
power of Sir Hudson to concede were to
be perpetually insisted on ; all acts of
courtesy were to be construed into in-
sults, every proposed amelioration of their

49 D

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

condition was to be received as an aggra-
vation of their misery, while lying to any
extent was to be unscrupulously resorted
to whenever it could forward the great
fend they had in view." ^Generals Ber-
trand, Montholon, and Gourgaud, and
Count Las Cases were all honourable
men — "at least according to the Code
NapoUon," as. Colonel Jackson caustically
observes — and we need not bestow too
much severity of censure on any of their
acts in the service of a master whose
will to them was law. V Count Las Cases
was a worshipper by nature : he said the
Erhperor was his god, and an eloquent
French writer has said of him, " He had the
servility of a domestic and the blindness
of a devotee. 'v Bertrand was, according
to Mr. Henry,* who knew him well at
St. Helena,; the most honest and
honourable man of the Longwood estab'

* Events of a Military Life, vol. ii. p. 92,
SO

At St. Helena

lishment, and, he adds, "£>« all other
subjects than those immediately relating
to the Em,perors interests, of unim-
peachable veracity." This, however, is
rather a large deduction, considering that
Bertrand said or did little at St. Helena
that had not reference to the Emperor.
v/^Even among this party Count Montholon
was distinguished for his disregard of
truth, and Napoleon himself cautioned
him against this habit. v An amusing in-
stance of this is found in the statement
in his Rdcits* of his regret at General
Gourgaud's departure, when only a month
before Gourgaud had challenged Mon-
tholon to a duel, which the latter declined
only on the ground of his attendance on
the Emperor! Of General Gourgaud I

* Vol. iii. p. 3 (English edition). See also Forsyth, ii.
348 and iii. 390. The date of the challenge was Feb. 4,
1818, and General Gourgaud embarked for England on
March 14. As a favour he was allowed to sail for
Europe direct instead of going first to the Cape.

51

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

-shall have more to say later. While at
St. Helena he conducted himself with
perfect propriety, which was probably one
reason why he fell into the Emperor's
bad graces. The evidence of the French,
then, is of little account as against Sir
Hudson Lowe ; but their admissions are
valuable as evidence in his favour. Now
it happens that we have these admissions
in abundance. vXVhen Las Cases was sent
away from St. Helena for misconduct, at
the end of 1816, the MS. of his journal
came into the hands of the Governor,
who, before returning it, very properly
had it copied as a matter of public in-
terest. This journal contains many
passages that are suppressed in the
journal as published. One of the sup-
pressed passages is as follows :

/' We are possessed of moral arms only ; and
in order to make the most advantageous use of
these it was necessary to reduce into a system
53

At St. Helena

our demeanour, our words, our sentiments, even
our privations, in order that we might thereby
excite a lively interest in a large portion of the
population of Europe, and that the Oppositior
in England might not fail to attack the Ministry
on the violence of their conduct towards us." Jt-:

Colonel Basil Jackson informs us thatt
while visiting Paris in 1828 he accidentally
met Count Montholon, who invited his
wife and himself to pass a few days at
his country seat. "^Colonel Jackson thus
continues :

" He ' (Count Montholon) enlarged upon what
he termed la politique de Longwood,. spoke not
unkindly of Sir Hudson Lowe, allowing he had
a difficult task to execute, since an angel from
heaven as Governor could not have pleased themy^
When I more than hinted that nothing could
justify detraction and departure from truth in
carrying out a policy, he merely shrugged his
shoulders and reiterated, ' C'etait notre politique,

* Under the date of November 30, 1815. • This pas-
sage is given by Forsyth, vol. i. p. 5.
t Wattrloo and St, Helena, pp. 103, foil.
53

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

et que voulez-vous ? ' i^hat he and the others
respected Sir Hudson Lowe I had not the
shadow of a doubt j nay, in a conversation with
Montholon at St. Helena, when speaking of the
Governor, he observed that Sir Hudson was an
officer who would always have distinguished
employment, as all governments were glad of the
services of a man of his calibre.\/ Happening to
mention that, owing to his inability to find an
officer who could understand and speak French,
the Governor was disposed to employ me as
orderly officer at Longwood, Montholon said it
was well for me that I was not appointed to the
post, as they did not want a person in that
capacity who could understand them; in fact,
he said, 'We should have found means to get
rid of you, and perhaps ruined you.' Now, it was
simply because an officer of the rank of captain
had always acted at Longwood, and the
Governor knew that to have sent them an
officer who was only a lieutenant would have
been deemed a kind of insult by Napoleon, and
as such resented. I was subsequently glad the
project failed."

These admissions require no comment.
Moreover, we have the evidence of

54

At St. Helena

O'Meara, who, writing to Sir Thomas
Reade* on July lo, i8i6, while he was
still on good terms with Sir Hudson
Lowe, thus expresses himself: "They
[the French] are sufficiently malignant to
impute all these things [want of proper
provisions] to the Governor, instead of
setting them down as being owing to
the neglect or carelessness of some of
Balcombe's [the purveyor] people. Every
little circumstance is carried directly to
Bonaparte, with every aggravation that
malignity and falsehood can suggest to
evil-disposed and cankered minds." t It
is needless to add that this passage does
not occur in his published book;
^We thus have a clue to guide us
through all the plausible statements/ made
by writers on behalf of Napoleon. / There

* The Deputy Adjutant-General. A French publica-
tion called him Le Castlereagh de Ste. Heline. :
t Forsyth, i. 237.

55

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

was a regular series of them. ''First, the
publication of Warden, the surgeon of
the Northumberland, then that of Santini,
one of Napoleon's servants. Both these
appeared in the Emperor's lifetime, and
we have the advantage of his own com-
ments on them. Of Warden's book he
said: "The foundation of it is true; but
in it there are cento coglioniere e cento
bugie (a hundred absurdities and a
hundred lies)."i/ But this is speaking too
gently. General Gourgaud wrote of it
as a " mere tissue of falsehoods." Of
Santini's book (which, as it turned out,
was not by Santini at all) Napoleon
said that it was "a foolish production,
exaggerated, full of coglioniere and some
lies." vHowever, these brochures served
their purpose, / which was to gull the
British publico Las Cases' journal is of
course a more serious publication ; but the
published journal, as above remarked, is
56

At St. Helena

very different from the MS. journal that
Came into the hands of Sir Hudson Lowe.
v0ther publications were the Rdcits of
Montholon, and especially A Voice from
St. Helena of O'Meara, of which I must
speak more particularly.^ There seems to
have been no personal animosity on the
part of the French towards Sir Hudson
Lowe. Like Lady Teazle, they took
away his character with the utmost good-
nature. ^ This is shown, not only by their
own admissions afterwards, but also by
their conduct immediately after the death
of Napoleon. "The hatchet was buried,"
and Counts Bertrand and Montholon (Las
Cases and Gourgaud having left St.
Helena long before) made their peace
with Sir Hudson Lowe, who, with his
accustomed generosity, was quite willing
to meet. them. They all called at the
Governor's house, stayed to lunch, and
all dined there on the following day. v*
57

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

There was no reason for keeping up
appearances any longer. We have similar
testimony from Colonel Jackson, who
wrote thus to Mr. Forsyth : "I never
heard any of the French say a word
against Sir Hudson Lowe's bearing
towards them. His orders to his officers
were to do all that courtesy and kindness
could dictate to render the situation of the
French persons as little unpleasant as
possible, and, so far as I saw, every
desire on their part was promptly attended
to. He was himself a man possessing
little of what is called manner — no man
had less of that — but he was full of kind-
ness, liberality, and consideration for the
feelings of others." "^hus we find Madame
Bertrand returning thanks for a donkey
which the Governor sent for her little
boy,'^and for a picture in tapestry which
had been detained from her by a person in
the island, and which the Governor in-
58

At St. Helena

stantly procured for her. '^" These are
trifles in themselves,'' says Mr. Forsyth»
" but they are trifles which indicate
kindness ; and a man's disposition and
character are often more clearly shown
in little things than in matters of more
serious import. "v/ From this absence of
personal feeling I am afraid I must
except Count Las Cases, who certainly
seems to have cherished some spite
against Sir Hudson Lowe. At any rate;
his son did, as we shall see later. For
some time before his death Napoleon
himself, perceiving that his hopes of recall
were entirely baseless, seems to have
become more reconciled to his lot, and
really to have shown some gratitude for
the constant attentions shown him by Sir
Hudson Lowe. >/ On his deathbed he
charged Bertrand and Montholon to seek
a reconciliation with the Governor, which
was done with the result above men-

59

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

tioned. The tragi-comedy of five years
was played out.\/

/It must be allowed that Napoleon was
less difficult to deal with than his attendants.
Affairs might have been more readily
adjusted if more personal intercourse be-
tween the Governor and his illustrious
captive had taken place. But they only
had five interviews in all,* and the last of
.them was only four months after Sir
Hudson Lowe's arrival. It was, as we
have' seen, Bertrand, Montholon, and
others who persistently and purposely
exaggerated and misrepresented every-
thing, in order to make occasions of
quarrel. This was, in short, la politique
de Longwood.^ "

The complaints of the French writers
are such as might be expected from the

* I do not here include the short interview of June ao,
i8i6, which was merely for the purpose of introducing
to Napoleon the new admiral. Sir Pulteney Malcolm. '
60

At St. Helena

circumstances in which they were placed,
^and naturally, owing to those circumstances,
would not make much impression on an
impartial reader. Moreover, their own
admissions have sufficiently discounted the
value of their evidence. There is another
person whose statements and insinuations
have been the chief cause in England of
the odium cast upon Sir Hudson Lowe.
I refer to Napoleon's surgeon, Mr. Barry
O'Meara. We have seen what manner
of man Sir Hudson Lowe was. Let us
also exaniine the character of Mr. Barry
O'Meara, and when that is fully appre-
ciated the most difficult part of my task
will be accomplished. One cannot be sur-
prised at the amount of prejudice raised
against Sir Hudson Lowe by A Voice
from St. Helena. It is written with an
engaging air of frankness—" an affected
candour," says Colonel Jackson— -and con-
siderable literary skill, and would naturally

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

lead the reader into the belief of the account
given therein. 1/ Besides this it seemed un-
likely, to say the least, that a British officer
would so far forget his position and his
duty as to enlist himself secretly in
Napoleon's service, to become rhomme de
V Empereur, as the phrase was, and there-
fore to misstate facts deliberately for the
purpose of producing sympathy for Napo-
leon. And again, if a British officer were
willing to be guilty of such treachery, there
did not seem to be sufficient inducement
for it. But these two unlikely things
turned out to be strictly trueV O'Meara
was guilty of this baseness, he had suffi-
cient inducement, and he received the
reward which he had certainly earned.
Barry O'Meara was surgeon on board the
Bellerophon when Napoleon surrendered
to Captain Maitland. He recommended
himself to the Emperor's notice, and was
subsequently asked to become his surgeon.

62

At St. Helena

It is not necessary to suppose, in the first
instance, anything further than thatO'Meara
succumbed to the fascination of the Em-
peror. There is abundant testimony to
the great personal attraction which Napo-
leon exercised over those with whom he
came into contact. How great this attrac-
tion was may be inferred from a remark of
Admiral Lord Keith, who in reply to
repeated applications on behalf of Napoleon
for a personal interview with the Prince
Regent exclaimed : " That would never do !
In half an hour they would be excellent
friends!"

As the Emperor's surgeon, O'Meara
sailed to St. Helena on board the Northum-
berland, and was in personal attendance
upon Napoleon afterwards until his sum-
mary removal by the order of the Govern-
ment in the summer of 1818. Being a
man of plausibility and considerable social
gifts, he managed for some time to keep
63

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

on good terms both with Napoleon and
with Sir Hudson Lowe, and sponkmMusfy^
gave to the latter a good deal of informa-
tion of how matters were going at Long-
wood. ^/The Governor, in fact, got his
salary raised from ;^365 to £<^20. Sir
Hudson Lowe, however, was naturally
unwilling to question O'Meara on this
delicate subject, as it might be thought he
wished the surgeon to act as a spy — until he
ascertained that O'Meara was in the habit
of carrying on a detailed correspondence
with a friend at the Admiralty, and then
he considered that what was of sufficient
importance to be conveyed direct to Eng-
land for the benefit of the Cabinet— for
this correspondence was shown to them —
certainly ought to be communicated to
himself. Even then the Governor left it
to O'Meara to say what he chose, and to
select what was proper to be thus com-
municated, \yAnd yet O'Meara had the
64

At St. Helena

astounding impudence to charge the
Governor with wishing to employ him as
a spy ! vThis charge against Sir Hudson
Lowe has unfortunately met with much
belief. For instance, the writer of the
notice of O'Meara in the Dictionary of
National Biography says : " Lowe wished
him to act to some extent as a spy upon
his prisoner and to repeat to hiin the
private conversation of the Emperor."
We have only O'Meara's bare word for
this, as against documentary evidence with
which it is inconsistent. Let us hear also
Sir Hudson himself. ''In a private letter
to Lord Bathurst soon after O'Meara's
enforced departure, the Governor entered
into the question of his conduct towards
that person. He said : " There are three
points upon which I have conceived Mr.
O'Meara riiay endeavour to raise a voice
in his favour.

"First, he may say I wanted to employ
65 E

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

him as a spy. Answer: I never asked
him to give me any other information
than what he had been in the habit of
carrying to Sir George Cockburn, and
this I asked him even in Sir George's
presence ; since when even Count Mon-
tholon has acknowledged I had a right to
expect being informed of any discussions
into which he might enter with General
Bonaparte respecting my duties or his own,
or of any improper communications going
on.

" Secondly, he may ask why, if I had
complaints against him, I did not bring
them to a hearing. Answer: The com-
plaints against him were of such a nature
as that, if proved, I could not have suffered
him to remain on the island without the
worst effect of example, from a supposed
impunity, upon the officers and inhabitants
in general ; and having received his resig-
nation, reporting to Government General

66

At St. Helena

Bonaparte's application for a French or
Italian physician to succeed him, I con-
sidered it best, unless he should himself
apply to the Admiral, to let matters rest
until the answer of Government should be
received. [That is, an answer to a repre-
sentation made by Sir Hudson Lowe
about Mr. O'Meara's conduct.]

" Thirdly, he may complain of my
general mode of treatment towards him.
Answer : If, through consideration to the
very particular circumstances of General
Bonaparte's situation, I was induced to act
with a moderation and apparent lenity
towards Mr, O'Meara which I could not
have done towards any other individual,
this was no reason I should at the same
time continue to him those personal regards
as an officer and a gentleman which his
conduct and proceedings had appeared to
me to destroy all claim X.o\ I never, there-
fore, suffered him to enter my house, ex-
67

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

cept by the outer door of it, which leads
to the Secretary's office ; and whenever he
attempted to manifest any impertinence in
his replies to my interrogatories, dismissed
him immediately from my presence." It
is not pleasant to be told to leave the
room, and after reading " thirdly " we can
hardly be surprised that O'Meara cherished
some animosity towards Sir HudsonJLowg/
But O'Meara was not only untrue to his
salt, he was guilty of a double treachery,
for at the very time when he was giving
some information to Sir Hudson Lowe
and much more to his friend at the
Admiralty (Mr. Finlaison) he had actually
long been under a pledge to Napoleon
himself "not to reveal the conversations
that passed between them, unless they
related to his escape." v Mr. O'Meara,
having already made shipwreck of his
own honour, tried to induce others to
follow his example. \/ I have already had

68

At St. Helena

■occasion to refer to Mr. Walter Henry,
who was at this time at St. Helena as
assistant- surgeon, and soon as acting
surgeon, of the 66th Regiment, ^n his
very interesting work, Ev ents of a Mil j::^
■ t£Lxy-Life, he devotes about one hundred
pages to his experiences on the island. '
Not a word has ever been uttered against
his character or impartiality, and his narra-
tive is amply confirmed in its details by
the letters and official documents which
Mr. Forsyth has published. Mr. Henry
gives an account of how an attempt was
made to bribe him to become rhomme de
lEmpereur through the agency of O'Meara.
He had attended Cipriani, the maitre d hotel
of Napoleon, during an illness which proved
fatal, and he was asked through O'Meara
to accept a breakfast service of plate. He
describes in an amusing way the visions
he had of this present, but the British

Parliament had lately made the acceptance
69

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

of any gift from Napoleon a criminal act^
and his duty was clear. " The matter,"
he says, "was plain enough — a palpable
attempt at a bribe, to enlist even so humble
a person as myself into Napoleon's service,
and to bind him down to implicit obedience,
by first making him commit himself in a
wrong action." It was a case of this sort,
another attempt to bribe in which O'Meara
acted the part of an intermediary, that led
to restrictions being laid on him by the
Governor in April 1818. However, the
account of Mr. Forsyth is much too
lengthy and minute, so I will quote the
narrative of Mr. Henry, every word of
which is amply confirmed by documentary
evidence.

" Mr. O'Meara, on finding his intrigues with,
the persons he had tried to bribe discovered,
sent in his resignation ; whilst at the same time
Napoleon applied for a foreign medical atten-
dant. Sir Hudson Lowe sent home their
70

At St, Helena

applications, confining Mr. O'Meara to the
bounds of Longwood, and placing him under
the same restrictions as the other persons of
Napoleon's household. A few weeks after this-
an order arrived from England to send home
Mr. O'Meara ; not from any representations from
Sir Hudson Lowe, for there was not time for the
recent oifence of this gentleman to be com-
municated, but in consequence of information
received by the Government at home inculpating
him as the tool of the fallen Emperor." f/

This information related to clandestine
correspondence, and had been given by
Greneral Gourgaud, who had recently re-
turned from St. Helena. ^^^It is important
to observe that it was the Government
and not Sir Hudson Lowe who removed
Mr, O'Meara.^ Sir Hudson Lowe had
not had up to this time proof of O'Meara's
complicity, and the way in which the latter
was backed up by influential members of the
Government had prevented the Governor
from taking all the steps he might other-

* Henry, ii, pp. 40, 41.
71

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

wise have taken. However, very soon
after O'Meara's departure there arrived
at St. Helena such convincing proof of
his being a tool of the Emperor as amply
justified the Government in their action.
After April 1 8 1 8, but before the summary
■order for O'Meara's dismissal had been
received, O'Meara was excluded from the
mess of the 66th Regiment, of which he
had been an honorary member. Of course
he has set this down entirely to the
machinations of the wicked Governor.^ In
his book he attributes it to Sir Hudson
Lowe having employed Sir Thomas Reade
to fill the mind of Colonel Lascelles with
the most insidious calumnies against him,
and to insinuate that his expulsion would
be very agreeable to the Governor. As
this is a good example of O'Meara's mis-
representations, I will give the particulars
of it from the narrative of Mr. Henry,
who was in a position to know accurately

72

At St. Helena

what happened. It is true that O'Meara
was excluded from the mess, that it was
due to the intervention of Sir Hudson
Lowe, and that some of the officers of
the mess did express their regret at his
departure. However, let us hear Mr.
Henry, and we can then judge whether
Mr. O'Meara had much ground for com-
plaint. He writes as follows :

"About this time Mr. O'Meara, having been
discovered tampering with two or three indi-
viduals on the island, with the object of pre-
vailing on them to accept presents clandestinely
from Napoleon, in violation of the regulations in
force ; and being also accused of repeating the
confidential conversation of our mess, of which
he was an honorary member, at Longwood, the
Governor stated the facts of the case to Sir
George Bingham and the Commanding Officer
of the 66th, intimating to the latter his opinion
that Mr. O'Meara should not be permitted to
continue a member of the mess, he having
abused the privileges his position gave him. . . .
Without consulting the officers of the mess, or
submitting for their consideration the facts com-
73

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

municated to him by the Governor, the Com-
manding Officer sent a written intimation to Mr..
O'Meara that his society was no longer desired
by the regiment, which pretty strong hint the
doctor disregarded, came to dinner the same
day, and afterwards appealed to the officers of
the mess as to the propriety of his conduct
whilst mixing with them. Having been kept in>
the dark as to the real culpability of Mr.
O'Meara, and being, perhaps, a little piqued at
the proceedings of their Commanding Officer,,
they readily certified to the gentlemanly deport-
ment of Mr. O'Meara whilst he was a member of
the mess. ... It is, I think, much to be
regretted that the officers of the 66th should
have given Mr. O'Meara any written certificate
of good conduct whilst a member of their mess.
However correct his behaviour might have been
before, the gross insult to our Commanding
Officer, and indirectly to ourselves, of sitting:
down to dinner after the prohibitory note he, had
received ought to have prevented any verbal or
written testimony being given to a man who-
could act with such effrontery. As it turned out,
our certificate eventually became one chief prop-

./ to the credibility of O'Meara's Voice from St.

( Helena — a specious but sophistical book, full
of misrepresentations, yet more remarkable for
74

At St. Helena

the suppressio vert than the assertio falsi. ,
With reference to the breach of social confidence
in reporting our mess conversation to Bonaparte,
I have no doubt whatever of the fact. In the-
unreserve of conversation with Madame Bertrand
on the voyage to England, after the death of
Napoleon, she acknowledged to me that this
charge was true." *

^immediately after his arrival in England'
O'Meara addressed a long letter to the
Admiralty in self-justification, full of com-
plaints against Sir Hudson Lowe. /how-
ever, he overreached himself, and, intending
murder, committed suicide, for he intro-
duced into it the monstrous insinuation
that the Governor had sounded him as^
to his willingness to hasten the death of
the Emperor by artificial means, t ''The

* Henry, ii. pp. 40, 41.

t On this alleged design to poison Napoleon, Count
Montholon made a characteristic remark : " We don't
believe it ourselves, but it is always well to say so," (Nous-
ne le croyons pas nous-mdmes, mais c'est toujours bon A
dire). The malignity of the charge is hardly greater
than its absurdity. — ;Forsyth, iii. 187, note,
75

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

/reply from the Secretary to the Admiralty
-was short and obviou^. It contained these
words :

'^" There is one passage in your said letter of
such a nature as to supersede the necessity of
animadverting upon any other parts of it. This
passage is as follows [the passage containing the
above insinuation is then set out].' It is im-
possible to doubt the meaning which this
passage was intended to convey, and my Lords
can as little doubt that the insinuation is a
calumnious falsehood; but if it were true, and
if so horrible a suggestion were made to you
directly or indirectly, it was your bounden duty
not to have lost a moment in communicating it
to the Admiral on the spot, or to the Secretary
of State, or to their Lordships.

"An overture so monstrous in itself, and so
deeply involving not merely the personal charac-
ter of the Governor, but the honour of the
nation and the important interests committed to
his charge, should not have been reserved in
your own breast for two years, to be produced
at last, not (as it would appear) from a sense of
public duty, but in futherance of your personal
hostility against the Governor.
76

At St. Helena

" Either the charge is in the last degree false-
and calumnious, or you can have no possible
excuse for having hitherto suppressed it. \^n
either case, and without adverting to the general
tenor of your conduct as stated in your letter,
my Lords consider you to be an improper
person to continue in His Majesty's service, and
they have directed your name to be erased from
the list of Naval Surgeons accordingly. — I have;
&c. (Signed) " J. W. Croker."

^This then is the man whose A Voice
from St. Helena has recently been re-
published ! \l This is the man who has been
immortalised by Byron in the well-known
couplet —

" And the stiff surgeon who maintained his cause
Hath lost his place and gained the world's applause."

Of which two lines it is sufficient to say
that they contain about as much truth as
O'Meara's own statements. The dismissal
of course put an end to O'Meara's public
career ; but if his activity was limited in
one direction, there were other fields open.

77

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

"He could still calumniate, and his efforts
in this direction, we must admit, were
• crowned with well-deserved success. In
1822 he brought out in two volumes, "A
Voice from St. Helena — a book with an
attractive title, an agreeable style, and the
-other characteristics I have before men-
tioned. It had an immense literary success,
iive editions being run through in a few
months. What caused its popularity was
jiot the report of Napoleon's conversations
i)ut the unscrupulous attack upon Sir
Hudson Lowe, for the literature of detrac-
tion has ever proved the most interesting.
Tacitus tells us that he deliberately began
his Annals with the principate of Tiberius,
in order to depict the,Roman Empire in
-the blackest colours. ^ If I may compare
small things with great, O'Meara dipped
his pen in gall to show to us Sir Hudson
Lowe — the Tiberius of St. Helena — and
he has had his reward. Has he not been
78

At St. Helena

■embalmed in a couplet ? Was he not pen-
sioned by the Bonaparte family, admitted
to the affections of a rich old lady as a
third husband (her first marriage was nine
years before the birth of O'Meara), and
again pensioned by her, besides being,
as Mr. Henry says, "admired, quoted,
and panegyrised by all the Bonapartists
yet extant"? Is not this enough to
atone for the brutality of a dozen Sir
Hudson Lowes? And yet the writer of
the memoir of O'Meara — prefixed to the
recent edition of his book — speaks of his
" disappointed hopes " ! v Really, he must
have been hard to please. One result of
O'Meara's popularity among the Bonapar-
tists, however, must not be omitted. It is a
remarkable example of the irony of human
life.

After the establishment of the Second
Empire, the mother of that excellent and
pious lady, the late Miss Kathleen O'Meara,

79

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

the authoress of the Life of Osanam, and
many charming works of fiction, was, it
seems, awarded a handsome pension on
the ground of being the daughter-in-law
of that self-convicted calumniator, Mr.
Barry O'Meara! I say "self-convicted,"
for it is a singular fact in connection
with the exile of Napoleon at St. Helena
that most of the charges made against
Sir Hudson Lowe can be disproved by
the evidence of the very people who
made them. What supplies the poison
also supplies the antidote. AVe have
seen how Napoleon's suite admitted that
the whole of their conduct was based'
on a system, and when that system neces-
sarily came to an end on the death' of
Napoleon they acknowledged they had
nothing to say against the Governor. So
in the case of O'Meara. He was carrying
on a correspondence with his friend Mr.

Finlaison at the Admiralty, and the garbled

80

At St. Helena

accounts after wards concocted for A Voice
from St. Helena are often in point blank
contradiction to the accounts written at
the time when the events narrated took
place ! ' It has been the business of Mr.
Forsyth in his work to go minutely into
this, and to confront O'Meara in page after
page of his book with his own statements
made in letters at the time. If ever any
one spoke with a "double voice" it was
O'Meara, but there has never been the
slightest difficulty in deciding to which of
the two we should give credit. O'Meara's
character was thoroughly exposed in the
Quarterly Review for October 1822, and
to this O'Meara had the prudence not to
make any reply. ^A few years after the
death of Sir Hudson Lowe, Mr. Murray
commissioned Sir Harris Nicolas, the well-
known antiquary to prepare for publica-
tion the papers of the late Governor of
St. Helena.v Unfortunately, Sir Harris

81 F

Sir Hudson Lowe, and Napoleon

Nicolas died before completing his task,-
but the opinion he had formed of some
of the persons involved is expressed in
two letters to Colonel Jackson, who had
furnished him with some information, v He
thus Writes from Boulogne, March i,
1848, of Sir Hudson Lowe : " Not a spot
will, I hope and believe, rest upon his
memory. Such an exposure of lying
nialignity and scoundrelism on the part
of O'Meara, Montholon, Las Cases,
Antommarchi [the Italian surgeon], ,&c.,
as the work will exhibit, will be almost
unprecedented." And again, on March 30,
1848: " By the time I have finished I think
I shall have been in company with more
/tars than any living author.v If pe&ple
meet in the next world with a know-
ledge of each other, and with an exposure
of their several falsehoods and villany,
what must have been the scenes between
Sir Hudson Lowe, Las Cases, and

82

At St. Helena

O'Meara!"* The papers of Sir Hudson
Lowe were subsequently put into the
hands of Mr. Forsyt h, who thus, in his
preface, comments with just severity upon
O'Meara :

" I am not one of those who think that
conduct such as he has been guilty of in slander-
ing others may be sufficiently censured in the
dulcet tones of gentle animadversion. He merits
a sterner and more fearless judgment. Such
writers are the pest of literature. They corrupt
the stream of history by poisoning its fountains,
and the effect of his work has been to mislead
all succeeding authors and perpetuate a tale of
falsehood."

^He says further on, of O'Meara's book:
■"The object of the Voice was to avenge
himself upon Sir Hudson Lowe, as the
supposed author of his disgrace. And the
means of accomplishing this was not diffi-
cult to a man who was content to sacrifice

* These letters are printed by Col. Basil Jackson in
Waterloo and St. Helena, pp. ii6, 117.
83

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

truth, honour, and honesty in the attempt. .^
He had been in constant intercourse with
Napoleon, and had had many confidential
interviews with Sir Hudson Lowe. He
knew perfectly well the real character of
every alleged grievance and complaint, and
he had taken copious notes of transactions-
and conversations as they occurred. What
then was more easy than to recast these
memoranda and garble them to suit the
object he had in view — to suppress some
passages and add others, so as to alter the
tone and complexion of the original, and
yet preserve throughout a substratum of
fa,ct? And this is what O'Meara has.
done. It is a serious charge to bring
against a writer, and one which ought not
to be lightly made nor readily believed.
But, happily for the cause of truth, in
this case, proofs, amounting to demon-
stration, of what is here asserted can be
supplied."

84

I^Q. At St. Helena

Mr. Forsyth then refers to the series
of confidential letters of O'Meara to Mr.
Finlaison and to the notes of conversations
made at the time by Major Gorrequer,
the Governor's Military Secretary. Of
Napoleon, Mr. Forsyth says in his pre-
face : "If I know anything of myself, my
sympathies were in his favour. I cannot
now sufficiently express my admiration of
his genius ; but neither can I blind myself
to the fact that he did not exhibit in mis-
fortune that magnanimity without which
there is no real greatness, and that he con-
centrated the energies of his mighty intel-
lect on the ignoble task of insulting the
Governor of St. Helena and manufacturing
a case of hardship and oppression for him-
self. I have endeavoured to hold the
balance even, and it is not the weight of
prejudice, but of facts, which has made
one of the scales preponderate;^ Of Sir
Hudson Lowe he writes : " I was not
85

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

asked to make out a case for Sir Hudson
Lowe, nor, had I been asked to do so,
would I have consented. I regarded the
duty of examining the papers left by him
as a solemn trust, for the due and truthful
discharge of which I was responsible to
the public, and a still more searching
tribunal, my own conscience."

I have already described the nature of
A Voice froin St. Helena. I would gladly
omit all mention of the republication,
in 1888, but as that book would now be
given to any one inquiring for O'Meara's
narrative, it is necessary to say a few
words about it. It is handsomely got up,
with excellent paper and print and some
interesting illustrations, and has been
rechristened Napoleon at St. Helena..
There are some additions and some,
omissions. The additional matter shows
all the good intention of O'Meara without,
his literary ability. The book is introduced

86

At St. Helena

with a quotation (given twice over) froni
Carlyle, who says : " O'Meara's work has
increased my respect for Napoleon,'.' and
then goes on to compare Napoleon to
Prometheus Vinctus, "arising above it all
by the stern force of his own unconquer-.
able spirit." Unconscious satire could
hardly go further. Carlyle, after all,-
merely says (but expresses better) what
any man who had read O'Meara's book
only might say. It is obvious that he
knew nothing of the other side, and in
any case this obiter dictum cannot increase
one's respect for the "Sage of Chelsea."
Next come two short memoirs of Sir
Hudson Lowe and Mr. O'Meara respec-
tively, then a lengthy introduction. The
writer on Sir Hudson Lowe, in the Dic-
tionary of National Biography, to whom
reference has already been made, shortly
says of the " Lives " in this book that
they are "worthless," an epithet which
87

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

an examination amply confirms. Taking
them with the introduction, it is not unjust
to say that many of the "facts " are fiction,
while the method of argument shows an
ineptitude of which O'Meara (to do him
justice) would have been ashamed. One
or two specimens will suffice. We read,
in allusion to Sir Hudson Lowe's delay in
prosecuting O'Meara for libel, "The only
reason given by Lowe for his delay was
the time required for meeting charges in
which truth was so artfully blended with
falsehood — an admission that we have a
good deal of truth in the journal." Pre-
cisely : it is the truth mingled with the
falsehood that makes it so dangerous.
Exaggeration and misrepresentation of
facts are always more difficult to expose
than pure fiction, and a book that spreads
these broadcast is proportionately more
venomous and deadly, for
" The lie that is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies."

At St. Helena

Again, there is quoted, as a testimonial

to O'Meara, an extract from a letter of

Lord Dudley (in the Dudley Letters) to

which he is certainly welcome. Having

met thie author of the Voice from St.

Helena at dinner. Lord Dudley writes as

follows : " He IS cheerful, good-humoured

and communicative, and, in spite of an air

of confident vulgarity which is diffused

over all his behaviour, the impression he

made on me was rather favourable. At

least my belief in what he has told was

strengthened by having seen him, and still

more so by some conversation which I

happened to have the very next day with

Sir G — '■ — C — r— > whom I met at Gloucester

Lodge. v^He defends Sir Hudson Lowe

only just as far as prudence and.decorurh

oblige an official man to do soy Indeed,

he acknowledged that, with respect to

what passed in St. Helena, he was disposed

to take O'Meara's part. He mentioned a.
89

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

circumstance, however, since O'Meara's
return to England, which he thought
disreputable^-a letter addressed by him
to ". the. Admiralty, containing a . charge
against Sir Hudson Lowe which, it made
at; all,, ought to have been made openly,
and substantiated by proof. This, there-
fore, must be set off against that appear-
ance of credibility which is, as I think,
distinguishable in O'Meara's book and in
his conversation." .....

Lord Dudley's "impression" naturally
counts for very little, but with regard ta
Sir George Cockburn two remarks may
be made. First, Sir George Cockburn
left St. Helena in June 1816, which was
considerably more than a year before the
Governor had a breach with O'Meara, so
he could know nothing personally of the
merits of the case ; and, secondly. Lord
Bathurst wrote to Sir Hudson Lowe in

November 18 18 that Sir G. Cockburn
90

At St. Helena

was the first person who, on reading
the charges, declared that O'Meara ought
to be instantly dismissed the service.
•^Another statement (in the memoir of
O'Meara) is : " On his [O'Meara's] return
to England he was well received by the
Lords of the Admiralty, and is said to
have had the valuable post of surgeon to
Greenwich Hospital offered to him." Yes,,
his " reception " consisted in his summary-
dismissal from His Majesty^s service — if
that is being "well received" — and the in-
sinuation about Greenwich Hospital is
simply untrue. More than seventy years
ago Mr. Finlaison — O'Meara's old corres-
pondent — wrote in a letter to the Morning
Chronicle :* " Mr. O'Meara having stated
in the latter part of his letter that I offered
him the lucrative situation of surgeon to-
Greenwich Hospital, I beg leave to state,
in the most distinct manner, that I never

* Of March 3, 1823.
91

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

was authorised to make any such pro^-
position, and that, therefore, it is but fair
to presume that I never could have done

V With regard to O'Meara's dismissal, the
defence is made that he could not have
brought the charge at the time, because Sir
Hudson Lowe would have seen it. But
surely he could have written it direct to
the Ministry, just as he wrote to Mr.
Finlaison without the knowledge of the
Governor, or again, as the Secretary to
the Admiralty reminded him, he could
have made the charge before the Admiral
on the station at St. Helena, who Wcis
independent of the Governor, j The defence
made is simply childish. We read again,
" The accuracy of G'Meara's narrative is
emphatically endorsed by Count Las
Cases." Very probably it is. Las Cases,
however, has quite enough to do to look
after his own character for " accuracy " ;

gz

At St. Helena

certainly he has not enough character for
two. This remark again is childish. In a
" note " the publishers state that advantage
has been taken of the narrative of Baron
Stlirmer, and the Life of Governor Lowe
by Forsyth, to supplement "any important
passages or events by the impressions of
other observers at the moment — since
made accessible." Baron Sturmer was the
Austrian Commissioner resident at St.
Helena. He was, at the suggestion of the
British Government, removed from St.
Helena at the end of June 1818, in conse-
quence of his persisting in unauthorised
communications with the French at Long-
wood ; "but," adds Mr. Forsyth, "the un-
pleasantness of dismissal was veiled under
the guise of an appointment as Consul-
General for Austria to the United States
of America." He was hardly likely, there-
fore, to say much in favour of Sir Hudson
Lowe, though he was a frequent guest at
93

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

his table. It is true the new and anony-
mous editor does sometimes refer in a foot-
note in small print to Mr. Forsyth's book,
but in such a way as to leave the impres-
sion that O'Mearaand Forsyth agree in sub-
stance but differ in some details. Forsyth,
As I need hardly remind the reader, is
flatly contradicting O'Meara nearly all
the time. Some of the most flagrant and
obvious misstatements of fact on the part
of O'Meara are omitted ; for instance,
those contained in the entries of July 6,
1816, and December 18, 181 7. The former
entryis thoroughly exposed in theQuari^rly
Review article of October 1822, the latter
by Forsyth. Some of the language pre-
viously attributed to Lord Amherst, who
■called in at St. Helena on his return from
China, is omitted. Lord Amherst having
taken the trouble to disavow it expressly.
With regard to omissions, the publishers
state that some " purely repetitory passages
94

At St. Helena

have been omitted, also the story of the
early days of Napoleon's butler, Cipriani."
Under which heading do they class the
omissions above specified ? There is also
an additional chapter professing to continue
the narrative to the death of Napoleon.
The writer faithfully imitates O'Meara in
his regard for accuracy. For instance, he
says that, in January 1820, Napoleon "on
several occasions breakfasted at the house
of Sir Wm. Doveton on the other side
of the island." Napoleon once only did
so, and this was on October 4, 1820.*
Forsyth gives a minute description of it,
as being a thing that only occurred once.
Again, a description is given of a visit of
Miss Susanna Johnson, "the young and
pretty daughter of Lady Lowe," who "ven-
tured to come alone to Longwood," and

* On this occasion the worthy knight described
Napoleon's appearance in a phrase more expressive
than elegant : " He looked," he said, " as fat and as
round as a China pig."

95

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

of her accidentally meeting the Emperor,
who gave her a rose. For this Montholon
is quoted as authority ; but the writer
should have seen the absurdity of it, and
Miss Lowe, the half-sister of Miss Johnson,
writes : "A pure invention ; such a thing
was impossible."

/Such then is the value of the evidence
of the French and of 0'Meara.i/ They
spoke of each other, it is true, in terms
the reverse of flattering, but their object
was the same — to further the political
plans of Napoleon. v/The French attacked
Sir Hudson Lowe on political grounds,
O'Meara attacked him mainly for personal
reasons. What evidence is there on the.
other side? To begin with, the charges
are obviously over-stated. v If true, they
prove too much, v If true, it is hardly con-
ceivable that the admirals on the station
in succession — viz., Sir Pulteney Malcolm,
Admiral Plampin, and Admiral Lambert,
96

At St. Helena

would not have interfered. They, at any
rate, cannot have been terrorised by Sir
Hudson Lowe. We find, however, that
Sir Pulteney Malcolm, who was present at
the last and stormiest interview between
the Governor and Napoleon, gives the
strongest testimony to the self-control of
Sir Hudson Lowe, and this has the more
weight in that the Governor and the
Admiral were not on the most cordial
terms.^ Moreover, the character of a man
is judged most correctly by those among
whom he spends his life, for no man can
be always acting. It is not denied that
Sir Hudson Lowe was personally popular
with the inhabitants of St. Helena. They
voted him an address when leaving, which
contained much more than conventional
expressions of regret at his departure, and
some years later (in 1828) when, returning
from Ceylon, he called in at St. Helena,
he was f^ted enthusiastically by the people,
97 G

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

who gratefully remembered the justice and
kindliness of his rule.
V I will now take the direct evidence in
favour of Sir Hudson Lowe. First is that
of Lieutenant-Colonel Basil Jackson, whom
I have already had occasion to quote. ~^ He
was a gentleman universally respected, and
died only a few years ago at the patriarchal
age of ninety-four. He first became known
to Sir Hudson Lowe as serving on the
Staff in the Netherlands in 1814 and 181 5,
and the impression which Sir Hudson Lowe
made upon him on first acquaintance has
already been given. ^The impression was
mutually favourable, for, on being nomin-
ated Governor of St. Helena, Sir H. Lowe
invited Lieutenant Jackson to accompany
him. His duty was to keep Longwood
House and its appurtenances in a habitable
state, with strict orders to neglect nothing
that could-tend to promote the comfort of
Napoleon and the persons of his suites
98

At St. Helena

Probably Lieutenant Jackson was on more
friendly terms with the French than any
■other Englishman, and so had exceptional
■opportunities of knowing their real senti-
ments. At a later period he was Lieutenant-
Colonel of the Royal Staff Corps and
Professor of Military Surveying at the
East India College at Addiscombe. As
Colonel Jackson uniformly speaks in favoui*
of Sir Hudson Lowe, and as nothing what-
ever can be alleged against his character,
an attempt has been made to detract from
the weight of his testimony by the assertion
that he was from early youth a prot&gd of
Sir Hudson Lowe — an assertion which is
perfectly untrue ; and further, it has some-
how got abroad that Sir Hudson Lowe's
second son, the late Major-General Edward
William Lowe, married a daughter of
Colonel Jackson. This statement actually
finds, a place in the notice of Major-
General Lowe in"the Dictionary of National

99

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Biography, but it is a pure fabrication, and
has naturally caused much pain to the widow
of General Lowe, who is still living. It is
a matter of fact that Major-General Lowe
never even met Miss Jackson. As already
noticed, directly after Sir Hudson Lowe's
death in January 1844, Colonel Jackson
wrote "A Slight Tribute to the Memory of
Sir Hudson Lowe," which appeared in the
United Service Magazine for March of that
year. In 1877 he wrote "Notes and
Reminiscences of a Staff Officer, chiefly
relating to the Waterloo Campaign and to
St. Helena matters during the captivity of
Napoleon," from which I have quoted
under the title of Waterloo and St. Helena.
It is an amusing and interesting book, but
\infortunately was published only for private
circulation, and is consequently little known
to the public. As regards Sir H. Lowe,
the tone of these reminiscences is the same
as that of the article written thirty-three

At St. Helena

years earlier. I shall have to quote agairi
from this small volume. ^Meantime I give
his description of the Governor of St.
Helena as he appeared in 1816 : "He
stood 5 ft. 7 in., spare in make, having
good features, fair hair, and eyebrows over-
hanging his eyes ; his look denoted pene-
tration and firmness, his manner rather
abrupt, his gait quick, his look and general
demeanour indicative of energy and
decision. He was warm and steady in his
friendships, and popular both with the
inhabitants of the isle and the troops.'^
^Another witness, still more independent if
possible than Colonel Basil Jackson, inas-
much as he never saw Sir Hudson Lowe
till they met at St. Helena, is Mr.
Walter Henry, Assistant-Surgeon of the
66th Regiment, who arrived in July 1817
and remained till the end, J He was pre-
sent at the post-mortem examination of
Napoleon and sailed to England with

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

the French. I have already quoted
frorn his book, Events of a Mititary
Lifey He thus writes generally of the
Governor :

"The Governor appeared to be much occu-
pied with the cares and duties of his important
and responsible office, and looked very like a
person who would not let his prisoner escape
if he could help it. From first impressions I
entertained an opinion of him far from favour-
able; if therefore, notwithstanding this prepos-
session, my testimony should incUne to the
other side, I can truly state that the change took
place from the weight of evidence, and in con-
sequence of what came under my own observa-
tion in St. Helena. Since that time he has
encountered a storm of obloquy and reproach
enough to bow any person to the earth ; yet
I firmly believe that the talent he exerted in
unravelling the intricate plotting constantly
going on at Longwood, and the firmness in
tearing it to pieces, with the unceasing vigilance
he displayed in the discharge of his arduous
and invidious duties, made him more enemies
than any hastiness of temper, uncourteous-
ness of demeanour, or severity in his measures,

103

At St. Helena

of which the world was taught to believe him
guilty." *

Mr. Henry's evidence is quite opposed
to O'Meara's, although he was on very
friendly terms with that individual until he
lost his character. However, his experi-
ences at St. Helena, being merely an
episode in his life and adventures, cannot
from the nature of the case be as much
known as they would have been if sepa-
rately published. "^The evidence of these
two gentlemen alone is sufficient to over-
throw the gigantic fabric of fraud and mis-
representation which has for so many years
done duty with the world, and more espe-
cially with the British public, as the true
history of Napoleon at St. Helena. v/ I will,
however, bring forward another witness.
In 1876 the SL James's Magazine pub-
lished a series of papers purporting to be
written by one Stewart, a pretended con-

"■ Henry, ii. pp. 9, 10.
103

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

fidential servant of Napoleon. " They are a
series of ridiculous falsehoods," says Colonel
Jackson, ^^he late Admiral Rous, who was
■on the station at St. Helena during part of
this period, and to whom reference is made
in these papers, wrote to Colonel Jackson
as follows, under date July 22, 1876 :i/' The
account of Napoleon at St. Helena is a
tissue of falsehoods. ... I do not believe
either Lowe or Reade [Sir Thomas Reade]
was capable of performing any act deroga-
tory to the character of a gentleman. \jTo
the best of my knowledge, all reports of ill-
treatment to Napoleon were systematic
falsehoods, fabricated with a view of keep-
ing alive a sympathy in Europe to enable
his friends to succeed in obtaining a more
agreeable exile."* ^

It now becomes my duty to deal with
the specific charges, which I hope the
reader may be disposed to regard upon

* Waterloo and St. Helena, pp. 117, 118.
104

At St. Helena

their merits. But before coming to them
it may be as well to say a few words (i) on
the personal character of Sir H. Lowe,
and (2) on certain special difficulties with
which he had to contend. "^ First then, I
will at once allow that Sir Hudson Lowe
was not a perfect characterj/ He had his
failings, of course, like every one else, ^e
felt keenly, perhaps too keenly, the respon-
sibility of his position.\/ The peace of the
world, he was told, depended on the faith--
ful execution of his trust, " There is only
one thing now to look after, and that rests
with you," was the refrain continually
dinned into his ears. He needed no argu-
ments to convince him of the importance
of his charge, and was sometimes almost
pedantic in his adherence to the letter of
his instructions. He was constantly re-
ferring the most trivial matters to the home
authorities — even some matters of which
he, being on the spot, was a far more
105

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

competent judge than they could be. ''His
correspondence shows an almost nervous
anxiety to put things right. / The deter-
mination of Napoleon to hold no personal
intercourse with the Governor caused
difficulties which might have been ex-
plained in a moment, but which, when set
forth in the diplomatic style affected by
Las Cases, Bertrand, or Montholon,
assumed formidable proportions. This is
a real defect. If the Governor had pos-
sessed a little more of the bluntness of Sir
George Cockburn he could not, it is true,
have satisfied Napoleon and his attendants
(no one could have done that), but he
would have spared himself a good deal of
worry, i/ Again, he certainly showed a want
of tact in some of his dealings with Napo-
leon. A' ^i/When the Emperor persistently
refused to recognise the title of " General
Bonaparte," the only one by which the

British Government would allow him to be
1 06

At St. Helena

addressed, it is hardly likely that he would
have accepted an invitation to dinner from
the Governor to " General Bonaparte/!^
This invitation to meet the Countess of
Loudon, though made with the best in-
tentions, was clearly a mistake, and it is
no wonder that Napoleon regarded it as an
insult. \/'v\.gain, near the close of his life
Napoleon presented to the officers of the
20th Regiment, to which his then medical
attendant, Dr. Arnott, belonged, Coxe's
Life of Marlborough, which had been given
to him by the Hon. Robert Spencer. Un-
fortunately, the Imperial title was written
inside the books. On this account, though
Sir Hudson Lowe did not forbid the
acceptance of the volumes, he certainly
/discouraged it, and they were not accepted./
Upon this incident one must agree with
the remarks of Mr. Forsyth : " I cannot
help thinking that Napoleon's kindly-meant

present might, under all the circumstances,
107

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

have been accepted, notwithstanding the
style of Emperor was inscribed in the
volumes. \/ He did not send them as coming
from ' the Emperor,' nor write the objec-
tionable title in them ; nor was there much
likelihood of a British regiment being
seduced from its allegiance by adding to its
library a few books, the gift of Napoleon.
It does not appear that he ever heard of
the fate of his present ; but if he had there
is no doubt that he would have felt what
had happened as a deliberate insult."
y There is also a consensus of opinion that
the Governor's manner was abrupt and
reserved, even in the judgment of those
most favourably disposed towards him.
His son says of hirh : "In speaking he
was frequently embarrassed for words ;
and in society alternated very much be-
tween extreme taciturnity and vehement
a.nimation of discourse. Even the greatest

■excitement, however, scarcely made his
108

At St. Helena

diction fluent."* This, however, is about
all that can fairly be urged against Sir
Hudson Lowe. And what does it amount
to ? Such slight matters as are only men-
tioned in a minute scrutiny of character.
1/ Secondly, besides the difficulties inherent
in his position, Sir Hudson Lowe had others
which seem to have been added as a wanton
aggravation.*' Three foreign Commissioners
were sent to St Helena by the Govern-
ments of France, Russia, and Austria
(Prussia did not send one). They were,
however, not merely useless but a great
source of annoyance to the Governor..
^/Ostensibly they helped to guard Napoleon,
but as England had undertaken that duty
and would naturally not be interfered with,,
they had nothing in the world to do except
to pass their time, which they did partly
by enjoying the hospitality of the Governor
and partly by engaging in intrigues against

* United Service Magazine, June, 1844, ?• 295,
109

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

the Governor's authority with the French
attendants of the Emperon They trans-
mitted reports to their respective Govern-
ments, but as Napoleon would not receive
them in their official capacity, and as Sir
Hudson Lowe would not allow them to be
presented as private Individuals, they had
not much of importance to transmit; Lord
Bathurst urged Sir Hudson Lowe to en-
courage the Commissioners "to amuse
themselves by going to the Cape by way
•of change of scene," and Napoleon himself
•exclaimed : " What folly it is to send those
•Commissioners out here without charge or
responsibility! They will have nothing to do
Taut to walk about the streets and creep up
the rocks." Of the Austrian Commissioner,
Baron Sturmer, and how his career was
■terminated, I have already spoken. Count
Balmain, the representative of Russia, was
recalled at the end of the three years for
-which he was appointed. Before he left
no

At St. Helena

he married Miss Charlotte Johnson, Lady
Lowe's eldest daughter by her first husband.
The Marquis de Montchenu, the French
Commissioner, remained to the end and
was the least objectionable of the three.
He is described as "pompous and harm-
less." Colonel Jackson says he was fond
of going out to whist parties, but seldom
invited others to his own house. From
this circumstance he acquired the sobri-
quet of "le Marquis de Monter-chez-
nous."* Mr. Henry gives an amusing
account of how he attended the Marquis
during an illness, for which he thought
he had a right to expect some pecuniary
fee. But the excellent Marquis gave him
something much more valuable in the
shape of a • note — of thanks, which is
printed in full as a model for future
Commissioners who may wish to pay
their doctors economically and yet hand-

* Wateyloo and St. Helena, p. 91.
Ill

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

somely. "Who," he adds, "would ex-
change such a letter for a gold snuffbox ?
I am quite certain that I never shall."
Incidentally "^r. Henry here testifies to
the Governor's kindness of heart./ The
Marquis was recommended change of
air, " As soon as Sir Hudson Lowe
heard this he invited him to Plantation
House ; and I rode there to see him two
or three times a week until his health
became perfectly re-established." Again,
Mr. O'Meara, the surgeon of Napoleon,
should have been put in precisely the
same position as the French attendants.
They were forbidden to send or receive
letters except such as were first seen by
the Governor. "/This order of the British
Government was peremptory. The same
restriction shoiild have been placed upon
the surgeon.y As it was, he could cor-
respond how and with whom he chose.
If this simple precaution had been

At St. Helena

observed an infinity of mischief would
have been prevented.

l^But the worst 'of all, and the thing-
which put so much power into the hands
of O'Meara, was the conduct of the
British Government, which, viewed in
itself, was utterly undignified : viewed
from Sir Hudson Lowe's standpoint, was
unfair and treacherous.^ As I have said
before, O'Meara carried on a regular
correspondence with Mr. Finlaison of the
Admiralty, and was encouraged by Cabinet
Ministers to write copious letters of gossip
about Napoleon for the amusement of them-
selves and the Prince Regent! It is true
Sir Hudson was informed of this after it
had gone on for a long time, but it utterly
stultified the express instructions of the
Government as to correspondence, "^hus
O'Meara was emboldened to defy the autho-
rity of Sir Hudson Lowe, and if it had not

been for his own infatuation he might have
113 H

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

done so to the end. Mr. Henry's remarks
on this are worth quoting. He says :

"I have been informed since, on authority
which I cannot doubt, that Mr. O'Meara had a
friend in London, the private secretary of Lord
M[elvi]lle, who found it convenient to have a
correspondent in St. Helena, then a highly
interesting spot, who should give him all the
gossip of the island for the First Lord of the
Admiralty, to be sported in a higher circle after-
wards for the Prince Regent's amusement. * The
patronage of Lord M. was thus secured ; and
Mr. O'Meara, confident on this backing, stood
out stiffly against Sir Hudson Lowe. The latter
was quite ignorant of this intrigue against the
proper exercise of his authority ; and when he
discovered it afterwards he found it was a
delicate matter to meddle with, involving the
conduct of a Cabinet Minister, and affecting,
possibly, the harmony of the Ministry. Even
after the development of the vile poisoning
charge against the Governor, the influence of
the First Lord was exerted to screen O'Meara,
but in vain; for Lord Liverpool exclaimed, as
in another well-known instance of a very dif-
ferent description, "It is too bad ! "*
* Henry, ii. p. 43.
114

At St. Helena

'^Thus, while one Cabinet Minister was
writing to Sir Hudson Lowe commending
him for his vigilance, and urging particular
care to prevent clandestine correspondence,
another Cabinet Minister was doing all be
could to undermine the Governor's autho-
rity by encouraging a clandestine corre-
spondence ! I do not think Mr. Forsyth
has made enough of this. What Governor
ever before had at the same time to fight
against open foes and treacherous friends ?
Fortunately for others, especially for the
British Government, O'Meara was the
sort of man who, if given enough rope,
would be sure to hang himself ; and so it
proved. The Government did not, there-
fore, reap the full consequences of their
own folly. It is certainly no thanks to them
that Napoleon did not effect his escape.

^Sir Hudson Lowe was jtoo loyal to
make any formal complaint, but a con-
sciousness of the unfair position in which
"5

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

he was placed is evident in a memorial
to Lord Liverpool which he drew up in
1824. It is indeed incredible, as Sir
Hudson Lowe there remarks, that the
members of the Government who enjoyed
O'Meara's gossip intended in the first
instance that he should be the medium
of communication to them of important
state information. Yet O'Meara saw his
advantage and immediately seized it. He
delivered up to Sir Hudson Lowe a letter
written by Count Montholon (the cele-
brated " Remonstrance ") which had been
left in his room for the purpose of being
sent home to be published in the Morning
Chronicle, and of which he said to the
Governor that he intended to make no
other use than to take extracts from it
for a friend in the Admiralty. He also
exhibited a letter marked "secret and con-
fidential," encouraging his correspondence,
but not communications of this kind. The

n5

■ At St. Helena

Governor then cautioned him upon his
correspondence with any individual upon
matters of so delicate a nature, and
added that the Governor himself was the
proper channel for communications to His
Majesty's Ministers. The merit would
not be less his, as any information he
might give would be conveyed in his own
name. In spite of this, however, O'Meara
resolved on a continuance of his communi-
cations, and, in order to obtain a guarantee
for them, boldly made known the injunc-
tions that had been laid upon him by Sir
Hudson Lowe, and his arguments for
disobeying them, and actually transmitted
at the same time a copy of the very letter
he had delivered up to Sir Hudson Lowe !
Two months later he sent a still full^
communication, repeated the injunctions
of Sir Hudson Lowe, and resolved to
bring the question to an issue, " as to the
approbation or otherwise that might be
117

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

bestowed upon the continuance of his
opposition in so important a point to the
officer under whose authority he was
placed." The replies to that letter were
decisive as to the nature of Sir Hudson
Lowe's future relations, not only with
O'Meara himself, but with Napoleon (who
had the wires thus placed in his own
hands), with his followers, with the foreign
Commissioners, to whom their purport
must 'have been secretly communicated,
and in short with all descriptions of
persons whom there was any object in
letting into the secret. " Words cannot
convey," continues the Governor, "in
more precise terms the approbation be-
stowed on the conduct of the pferson
written to. It is unnecessary to say that
this unfortunate proceeding rendered ten-
fold more difficult the execution of Sir
Hudson Lowe's duties at St. Helena, and
made it almost impossible for him to come

ii8

At St. Helena

to any right understanding with the persons
under his charge — secretly stripped him of
one of the chief attributes of his authority,
while leaving him still the responsible
person for the mischief which might
spring from such interference with it."

In considering the charges against Sir
Hudson Lowe, a clear distinction must be
drawn between the acts of the British
Government, in carrying out which the
Governor was acting officially, and th&
personal acts of Sir Hudson Lowe. '^The
first thing is the climate of St. Helena
itself It is "common form" with many
French writers to assume that one of the
objects the British Government had in
sending Napoleon there was that he might
be "assassinated" by the climate, which
(they professed to think) would kill him in
a few yearsi' »^ I verily believe this is the
only charge made on behalf of the Emperor
in which Sir Hudson Lowe is not involved:
119

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Not even his malignity could affect the
climate of St. Helena. KAll medical testi-
mony is distinctly opposed to the notion
that St. Helena is unhealthy, the death-
rate being remarkably low. ^ " For a
tropical climate, only fifteen degrees from
the Line, St. Helena is certainly a healthy
island," writes Mr. Henry, " if not the
most healthy of this description in the
world. During one period of twelve
months, we did not lose one man by
disease out of four hundred of the 66th
quartered at Deadwood (the camp near
Longwood)." But this point is hardly
worth labouring, becauseVLas Cases says
in his journal that Napoleon remarked to
him : " After all, as a place of exile, perhaps
St. Helena was the best.^ In high latitudes
we should have suffered greatly from cold,
and in any other island of the tropics we
should have expired miserably under the
scorching rays of the sun. This rock is

At St. Helena

wild and barren no doubt ; the climate is
monstrous and unwholesome ; but the
temperature, it must be confessed, is
mild." In accordance with the curious
fatality that attends the charges brought
in connexion with the exile of Napoleon,
we have French evidence as to the desira-
bility of St. Helena as a place in which to
settle. In a report published in 1804 at
Paris, by order of the First Consul, St.
Helena was called a terrestrial paradise,
where the air was pure and the sky serene,
where health shone in every countenance,
and diseases contracted in India were
immediately cured. ''As to the death of
Napoleon, all the doctors who attended
\h& post-mortem examination certified that
the disease of which the Emperor died was
cancer of the stomach — a disease which, I
need hardly say, is unaffected by climate.*^
O'Meara was absolutely wrong in his
diagnosis of "chronic hepatitis," and it is
121

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

a very remarkable fact that it was owing
to the good condition of the liver that life
was preserved so long. " The liver acted
as a kind of cork or stopper to the opening
in the coat of the stomach formed by the
ulcer, and prevented the escape of the
contents of the stomach, which must have
caused immediate death."*
'^ If Napoleon was to be detained at St.
Helena certain measures had to be taken
to prevent his escape, and also to prevent
communications with adherents in Europe
or elsewhere, who might form conspiracies
and raise revolutions./ The instructions of
the British Government to Sir Hudson
Lowe are contained in a despatch of
Sept. 12, 1815, of which it is necessary to
quote only the following passage : "You
will observe that the desire of His Majesty's
Government is to allow every indulgence

* Forsyth, iii. 393, and Dr. Shortt's evidence there
quoted.

122

At St. Helena

to General Bonaparte which may be com-
patible with the entire security of his
person : that he should not by any means
escape, or hold communication with any
person whatever (excepting through your
agency), must be your unremitted care ;
and these points being made sure, every
resource and amusement which may serve
to reconcile Bonaparte to his confinement
may be permitted." Sir Hudson Lowe
considered these the two leading points of
his instructions — personal security and the
prevention of unauthorised communica-
tion, '^t is generally represented that the
restrictions imposed were unnecessarily
harsh, and that they were rendered much
more intolerable by the harshness and
brutality of the Governor in carrying them
out."/ An examination will show that as
regards the Governor the precise opposite
was the case. ''The harshness of the res-
trictions, such as it was, was much miti-
123

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

gated by the kindness and consideration
of Sir Hudson Lowe, and the nearest
approach to a rebuke that he ever received
from the Government was owing to his
not insisting sufficiently upon their instruc-
tions being obeyed. The Marquis de
Montchenu, the French Commissioner,
complained to his Government of the
lenity of Sir Hudson Lowe,* and General
Gourgaud said at St. Helena to the
Russian Commissioner that if he had
been in the Governor's situation he would
have acted with more rigour. / " I would
have confined them more closely ; he [i.e.,
Sir Hudson Lowe] has good right to
complain [of the manner in which Napoleon
conducted himself]." t ^^n October 1820

* His despatches to the French Government are con-
tained in the French archives and were there found by
M. Georges Firmin Didot some years ago. Since then
M. Didot has pubUshed the book mentioned in the
Bibliography at the end of this volume.

t " Je les aurais bloqu6s plus 6troitement: 11 a cause
de se plaindre," Forsyth, ii. 190.
124

At St. Helena

H.M.S. Owen Glendower, commanded by
the Hon. Robert Spencer, arrived at St.
Helena. Captain Spencer arrived pre-
possessed in Napoleon's favour and be-
lieving that he was harshly treated, but
before quitting the island he quite changed
his opinion and said to the Governor that
"if the precautions erred in any way, it
was more on the side of indulgence than
unnecessary restraint.'t^

(The principal specific instructions of the
Govermnent were the following : —

(i) JT'Aia:^ Napoleon was not to be allowed
the title of Emperor, but was always to be
styled General Bonapart^ This was from
first to last a source of endless discomfort
and difficulty. Certainly the British
Government were quite justified in their
refusal to allow the title of Emperor
to one whom they had not recognised
as such in the height of his prosperity,
and Sir Walter Scott strenuously defends

135

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

them, but it is just because they had
refused the title to the Emperor then
that they could afford to be generous
now. 1/ I am, therefore, of the opinion of
Mr. Henry and Mr. Forsyth that it is
a point which might have been conceded
without loss of dignity. V The latter ob-
serves : "It seemed puerile in us to
ignore a title by which he will be known
in history as certainly as Augustus or
Charlemagne. It cannot be urged that to
recognise Napoleon as Emperor would
have been to abandon the cause of the
Bourbons, for we had previously concluded
the treaty of Amiens with him as the afe
/ado ruler of France ; and we had no right
to impose either a king or a form of govern-
ment upon that country." ^However this
may be, all the odium of insisting upon
this point fell upon Sir Hudson Lowe, who
had no choice in the matter, v/ We cannot

he surprised that Napoleon himself and
126

At St. Helena

his attendants always Insisted upon the
title of " Emperor," and Sir Hudson Lowe
was often obliged to return letters and
other documents to them in consequence.
Soon after the arrival of Sir Hudson Lowe,
all Napoleon's suite and servants had to
sign a declaration of submission to the
terms on which they were to be allowed to
remain on the island, and the Government
allowed them to refer to Napoleon as the
" Emperor." In consequence of this all
the declarations were sent back by Govern-
ment and had to be signed over again
without any mention of the obnoxious
title. There was then some theatrical
display, Napoleon's suite at first declar-
ing that they would rather be sent away
than submit to such a degradation, as they
professed to consider it. However, when
they found that Sir Hudson Lowe was
not to be trifled with on this point

they gave in, General Gourgaud setting
127

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

the example, much to the relief of
Napoleon.*

{p-^vThat no letters or packets were to be
sent or received by the French unless they
•were first seen by Sir Hudson Lowe. ^ This,
restriction was most vexatious, and, after
all, useless. Sir Walter Scott observes most
truly that when this restriction was placed
upon all communications any person would
feel a certain amount of sympathy, and be
disposed to aid the exiles by conveying
letters, &c., while if they had been allowed
to make use of the ordinary post it would
have been found much more difficult to
prevail on people to convey letters secretly.
VBut the chief objection is the fatal one
that the regulation could not possibly be
thoroughly carried out, and we know that
the French never had any difficulty in
carrying on a correspondence with Europe.^^
Countess Bertrand on the voyage home

* Forsyth, i, 337.
ia8

At St. Helena

frankly stated this to Mr. Henry,, and
General Gourgaud before his departure
said to Major Gorrequer, the Governor's
Military Secretary, " I might if 1 wished
have sent away every week a packet to
England." Captain Ripley, of H.E.l.C.
ship Regent, who landed at St. Helena in
May 1 8 19, stated that he was offered
^600 if he would be the bearer of a letter
from the French to Europe. But I need
not multiply instances, as the fact is undis-
puted, and the French used to boast of it.
In October 181 7 Napoleon wrote some
remarks upon a speech of Lord Bathurst
which had been recently made in the
House of Lords in answer to one of Lord
Holland moving for documents to show
the treatment of Napoleon at St. Helena.
On this occasion Sir Hudson Lowe de-
parted from his instructions and allowed a
sealed packet to be sent to Lord Liverpool,
although he knew (or rather because he
129 I

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

knew) that it contained complaints against
himself. The French, however, scarcely
appreciated the delicacy of his conduct, for at
the same time they sent clandestinely a copy
of the " Remarks " to be published in Eng-
land on arrival. " Thus," says Mr. Forsyth,
"the poison of calumny was disseminated
abroad long before Sir Hudson Lowe ever
knew, much less could reply to, the charges
that were brought against him. "^Napoleon,
it is well known, had immense pecuniary
resources in Europe, and it is quite possible
that by a correspondence he might have
caused another revolution, v I cannot,
therefore, quite agree with Sir Walter
Scott that the object aimed at by prevent-
ing clandestine correspondence might Tiave
been secured in some other way. I see
no way by which this object could abso-
lutely have been attained. It was a risk
that had to be run.

• (3) That Napoleon should be seen by the
130

At St. Helena

orderly officer twice within the twenty-four
hours, and that after nightfall sentinels
should be placed round the house. ^It is
obvious that there was no duty more diffi-
cult to carry out than the instruction that
Napoleon should be seen by the orderly
officer, and yet none that was of more
importance for the security of his person.
Sir Walter Scott considers that if this order
were strictly enforced nearly all the others
might have been neglected. VNapoleon
and his attendants systematically threw
every obstacle in the way of the unfortunate
orderly officer, and Sir Hudson Lowe often
had to be content with very indirect
evidence of the presence of Napoleon at
Longwood, and sometimes days passed
without his being seen at all. '^i^n spite of
the extra pay, no officer was willing to hold
this position longer than he could help.*/
As to one of them (Captain Blakeney), '
O'Meara in his long letter to the Admiralty
131

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

stated that he had long been weary of a
situation in which his " honourable feelings
and sentiments were wounded by Sir
Hudson Lowe's having required him to
make a report of the conversation and
action of the persons with whom he daily
sat down to table in that confidence always
existing amongst brother officers." This,
however, is only one of O'Meara's mis-
statements. Captain Blakeney himself
wrote to Count Bertrand and stigmatised
a similar statement as " false " and an
"infamous calumny," and said he resigned
because his situation deprived him of the
society of his brother officers. His brother
officers of the 66th also signed a declaration
that they had never heard Captain Blakeney
make use of any of the expressions attri-
buted to him, or any words to that effect.
Very amusing accounts are given by
Captain Nicholls, though not perhaps so
amusing to him, of the shifts to which he
133

At St. Helena

was put to carry out this irksome duty.
He mentions being on his feet as much as
ten hours at a time in order to get a glimpse
of the Emperor. He says, for instance,
one day that he caught a sight of him while
he was strapping his razor. On another
he saw the top of a cocked hat moving
about which he presumed to be Napoleon's.
Once, when he applied to Count Montholon
for help, the Count suggested that he could
see him through the keyhole ! ly At length
Lord Bathurst lost patience, and wrote that
if Napoleon's system of seclusion continued.
Sir Hudson Lowe must " adopt some com-
pulsory mode of learning a fact indispen-
sable to the prevention of his escape. 't^ "^t
is one thing to write despatches from
Downing Street and another to carry them
out at St. Helena, and in spite of all the
trouble that was given on this point, Sir
Hudson Lowe never did have recourse to
any compulsory measure. «^As to the post-
133

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

ing of sentinels after sunset, Lord Bathurst
made an effective answer to Lord Holland's
complaint on that head. He said in his

speech :

''"Sentinels were stationed there after sunset,
and Napoleon had expressed his dislike to walk
when he was thus watched. Sir H. Lowe, with
every desire to attend to his wishes, after that
fixed the sentinels in places where they would
not look on him. Would their Lordships wish
these sentinels to be removed altogether, just at
the time when it was most Ukely that he should
escape ? Let them suppose for a moment that,
instead of debating on the motion of the noble
I^ord, intelligence was brought them by Sir
Hudson Lowe that General Bonaparte had
actually escaped. Let them suppose that,
instead of sitting to discuss whether a little
more or little less restriction should be imposed,
they had thus to examine Sir Hudson Lowe at
their bar. How and when did he escape ? — In
the early part of the evening; and from his
garden. Had his garden no sentinels? — The
. sentinels were removed. Why were they re-
moved ? — General Bonaparte desired it — they
were hurtful to his feelings ; they were then
removed, and thus was he enabled to escape.
134

At St. Helena

What would their Lordships think of such an
answer? He begged them to consider the
situation of Sir Hudson Lowe, in what a painful
and invidious station he was placed. If General
Bonaparte escaped, the character and fortune of
Sir Hudson Lowe were ruined for ever ; and if
no attempts were made to effect that escape,
there would not be wanting some, from false
motives of compassion, to reproach him for
those restrictions which had probably prevented
those attempts from being made."

(4) That the best house on the island
should be assigned to Napoleon, with the
exception of Plantation House, the country
residence of the Governoryi-^ admit at
once that it would have • been better
if Plantation House had been given up
to Napoleon, but the orders of Govern-
ment were positive, and Sir Hudson Lowe
had to carry them out. Longwood was
the next best house, the residence of the
Lieutenant-Governor. TJapoleon had him-
self selected it when riding with Sir George

* Speech in the House of Lords, March 18, 1817.
135

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Cockburn, soon after his arrival in the
island.i/j/Materials were sent out from
England for the purpose of constructing a
new house. When the materials came to
hand, Sir Hudson Lowe wrote to Napoleon
asking whether he would like to have a new
house erected, or additions made to the old
one. Receiving no answer, the Governor
went personally to wait upon the Emperor
and obtain his decision. The only answer
he could get was that the Emperor would
prefer a new house, but that it would take
five or six years to build, and he knew he
would not be so long on the island. /Sir
Hudson Lowe then proceeded to make
alterations in the old house, but Napoleon
disapproved of this, though it was done for
the purpose of lodging his attendants.
One cannot object, of course, to Napoleon's
having a choice either of the new house or
the old one, or between alterations and no
alterations, but the objection is that he
136

At St. Helena

made every attempt to improve his resi-
dence the foundation of a charge against
Sir Hudson Lowe, and that he watched
the moment when attention was being paid
to his wishes to make that attention a
source of complaint, ''For the summer of
1817, with a view to secure Napoleon's
comfort, Sir Hudson Lowe applied to Miss
Mason, a lady who lived at a house called
Pleasant Mount, which had shady trees
and water. She was willing to let it for
;^ioo a month, and Sir Hudson Lowe at
once wrote to Count Bertrand stating the
advantages of the situation, and telling him
that if Napoleon would accept the house
it was at his disposal for the summer
months. To this letter no answer was ever
returned. i^At length, when it was obvious
that there was no prospect of his recall.
Napoleon did condescend to examine plans
for a new house, which was actually com-
pleted a short time before his death,!/
137

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

though, in consequence of his illness,
never occupied by him. There was an
iron railing some distance from the house,
of the simple kind that is often put up
before houses in England. It could not
be seen from the house, but Napoleon
took a dislike to it and said it formed
an "iron cage." Sir Hudson Lowe im-
mediately ordered it to be discontinued,
and, subsequently ascertaining that the
objection was not so much against the
railing itself as against its too great
proximity to the house, he had it placed
further back., I^ Near the end of his life
Napoleon conveyed to Sir Hudson Lowe
through Count Montholon his thanks
to the British Government for having
caused such a house to be built for him
and to Sir Hudson Lowe himself for the
pains he had taken in its construction. '^

{^Y That certain limits should be as-
signed within which Napoleon should be
138

At St. Helena

at liberty to walk or ride unattended.
uUnder Sir George Cockburn a circuit of
twelve miles was allowed within which
Napoleon might walk or ride unattended, "^
while he might go anywhere on the island
attended by a British officer. Surely the
limit of twelve miles was ample. It is
true that for a time Sir Hudson Lowe
made some modification in this arrange-
ment, but as this is a matter rather
personal to the Governor than connected
with his instructions from home, I will deal
with it later. vThe limits to be fixed were
left to the Governor, the Government only
stipulating that there should be some limits,
and that these should be reasonable. ^

"^hese were the principal instructions of
the British Government, With regard to
the first three, Sir Hudson Lowe actually
relaxed them, and had to defend his
conduct /to the home authorities for so
doing, / As to the fourth. Napoleon at last
139

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

admitted the pains which the Governor
took to consult his comfort. The fifth
I postpone for the moment. ^And yet all
these relaxations were represented by the
French as " caprice " !

On this point Sir Hudson Lowe writes,
not without dignity and pathos: "When
you have found me accused of some
atrocious cruelty, harshness, or injustice,
be assured such has not merely not been
committed, but that it is more than
probable I have been guilty of some act
of indulgence or attention on the very
occasion diametrically opposite to that of
which I have been accused."*

s/l will now come to the charges against
Sir Hudson Lowe not so immediately
connected with his instructions, and of
a personal rather than official nature.^^
None of them present any difficulty.

v(i) Tkai Napoleon was on comparatively

* From an unpublished letter.
140

At St. Helena

good terms with Sir George Cockburn, and
that therefore it must have been the fault
of Sir Hudson Lowe that Napoleon took
such a vehement dislike to him.^^Aite^r
the Admiral left this was constantly said
by Napoleon and his attendants, but as
long as he was acting Governor Napoleon
could hardly say anything bad enough
about him. i I have already quoted the
language in which he anticipated the
arrival of Sir Hudson Lowe. When the
Admiral refused to forward, sealed packets
to England, Napoleon burst out: " Who is
the Admiral? I never heard his name
mentioned as conquering in a battle, either
singly or in general action. 'Tis true he
bas rendered his name infamous in America,
-which I heard of, and he will now render it
so here on this detestable rock. I believe,
however, that he is a good sailor.v/ Next
to your Government exiling me here the
worst thing they could have done, and the
141

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

most insufferable to my feelings, is sending
me with such a man as him!"\^ At another
time he is represented as saying: "In fact,
I expect nothing less from your Govern-
ment than that they will send out an
executioner to despatch me. V^hey send
me here to a horrible rock, where even
the water is not good ; they send out a
sailor with me who does not know how to
treat a man like me, and who puts a camp
under my nose, so that I cannot put my
head out without seeing my jailors. Here
we are treated like felons ; a proclamation
issued for nobody to come near or touch
us, as if we were so many lepers or had
the itch ! " t Napoleon's feeling against the
Admiral is also shown by the fact that he
attributed the choice of an unusually early
hour for the first interview with Sir Hudson
Lowe to a desire on Sir George Cockburn's

* From a letter of O'Meara to Mr. Finlaison, dated
March i6, 1816, given by Forsyth, i. pp. 66 foil.
t lUd.

142

At St. Helena

part to embroil him with the new Governor. ^
It was plainly the object of Napoleon and
his suite to play off Sir Hudson Lowe
against Sir George Cockburn, and when
the latter had gone, then Sir George Cock*
burn against Sir Hudson Lowe?^'

{2')^That Sir Hudson Lowe innovated
upon the arrangements made by Sir
George Cockburn and frequently even
changed his own regulations, ^^his is
what has caused Sir Walter Scott, writing
on imperfect information, to speak of the
Governor's "want of steadiness of pur-
pose," and if it were really the case that
the Governor did frequently alter his
regulations he would certainly have shown
himself to be an unfit person for the im-
portant post he occupied. But what are
the facts ? i/As we have seen, the original
limits within which Napoleon could walk
or ride unattended embraced a circuit of
twelve miles. In October 1816 Sir
Hudson Lowe cut off from it a ravine
143

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

where were some cottages. This also cut
off a road on the other side of the ravine.
As, however, Napoleon complained bitterly
;of not being allowed to ride along a road
which, when it was open to him, he had
never once made use of, Sir Hudson soon
withdrew the regulatioji and restored the
road to the limits. v^^E very subsequent
change, as Mr. Forsyth shows, was in
Napoleon's favour, and more and more
■space was afterwards accorded to him,'/
until even Montholon warmly thanked Sir
Hudson Lowe for what he had done for
them. All that is required to vindicate
Sir Hudson Lowe from the charge of
vacillation in this matter is to state the
-facts. On two other points it cannot be
denied that there had been a certain
amount of laxity on the part of Sir George
Cockburn, and Sir Hudson Lowe had to
insist on a stricter carrying out of Govern-
ment's instructions. Sir George Cockburn
144

At St. Helena

was only in charge from October 1815
to April 1 8 16, and himself admitted that
if he had been staying longer he should
have drawn the reins a little tighter, inas-
much as he saw some of the evils that
were accruing. L^In Sir George Cockburn's
time the sentinels were drawn round the
house at nine o'clock. Now, as there was
(on an average) an interval of three hours
between sunset and nine o'clock, and as
this interval gave an opportunity for
eluding the vigilance of the guards, Sir
Hudson Lowe had the sentinels posted
at sunset ; but, with that deference to the
susceptibilities of Napoleon which he
always manifested, ^he sentinels were
drawn only round the garden at sunset,
and not round the house till nineK Again,
it had been permitted by Sir George
Cockburn that passes signed by Bertrand
only should give access to Longwood, and
also an invitation to dinner sent by Count

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Bertrand to any person who had been
presented to Napoleon should be received
by the guard as a pass. It was obvious
that this permission was liable to abuse,
and that under cover of it sealed commu-
nications might pass. And so it proved,
for Count Bertrand soon asserted that Sir
George Cockburn had authorised a sealed
correspondence. Sir George Cockburn
himself told Sir Hudson Lowe that if he
had foreseen that Count Bertrand's house
at Longwood would have been so long in
construction (he lived at first at Hutt's
Gate, about two miles from Longwood) he
would not have given this latitude, i/^ These
are all the changes that were made by Sir
Hudson Lowe, and it will be seen that
they were made partly in order to comply
more strictly with definite instructions,
partly to mitigate, as far as he could, the ,
inconvenience of the situation of the exiles, v

{^\rhat Sir Hudson Lowe was harsh

145

At St. Helena

in temper and coarse in language 1- These
charges are made against the Governor,
especially as regards his interviews with
Napoleon. UFrom what has been written
on this subject it might be thought that
Sir Hudson Lowe was in the habit of
riding to Longwood once or twice a week
for the purpose of abusing and maltreating
the captive Emperor.^^^ut, as already
remarked, there were only five interviews
between them altogether, and it was only
at the last three that any stormy scenes
occurred. ^<^he third interview was mostly
taken up by Napoleon with abuse of Sir
Hudson Lowe, and he admitted afterwards
to Las Cases ; "I behaved very ill to him
no doubt. "^ However, the Governor proved
himself very insensible to my severity ; his
delicacy did not seem wounded by it. I
should have liked to have seen him evince
a little anger or pull the door violently
after him when he went away." In other
147

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

wordsj^s Mr. Forsyth puts it, the Governor
behaved with dignity and forbearance during
this explosion of bad temper on the part of,
Napoleon, l^fhe fourth interview was much
of the same nature as the third, Napoleon,
spending most of it in abuse ; but the,
fifth and last, on August i8, 1816, was
the most violent exhibition of Napoleon's
manners. He positively exhausted the
vocabulary of insult and vituperation. At
this interview Admiral Sir Pulteney Mal-
colm was present, and the Emperor had
recourse to the peculiarly irritating trick
of abusing a man in his presence but in
language addressed to a third person, for
nearly all of what he said was to the
Admiral. It was at this interview that he
called Sir Hudson a sbirro Siciliano (a
Sicilian thieftaker). Napoleon himself
afterwards admitted that his own conduct,
had been as offensive as possible, and did
the justice to acknowledge that Sir Hudson
148

At St. Helena

Lowe had never shown him any want of
respect, that the only thing noticeable was
the abrupt way in which he had retired,
while the Admiral withdrew with numerous
salutations. And this is all, that after
being subjected to a torrent of unmerited
abuse Sir Hudson Lowe withdrew without
a bow ! The coolness with which Sir
Hudson Lowe bore his insults increased
Napoleon's anger, for he said : " This is
the second time in my life that I have
spoilt my affairs with the English. Their
phlegm leads me on and I say more than
i ought."* It was at this interview that
the Governor is said to have laid his hand
on his sword — a fable which not only Sir
Hudson Lowe indignantly denied, but of
which O'Meara also / says that he knew
it to be incorrect.'' ^ The real grievance
of Napoleon was clearly that he could
not make the Governor lose command of

* "Leur flegme me laisse aller,'' Forsyth,!. 256,
149

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

his temper, that his demeanour was im-
perturbable./ It is perfectly true that, as
Lord Bathurst reminded Sir Hudson Lowe,
no language of Napoleon, in the situation
in which he was, could be regarded as an
insult ; but, however much that may be the
case, things can be said which it requires
extraordinary self-control not to resent.
Napoleon was of course fully aware of
this, and used his privilege to the full.
On the evening of that day Lieutenant
Jackson was dining with the Admiral, who
spoke freely of the interview, and bore
willing testimony to the cool replies and
admirable/ forbearance of Sir Hudson
Lowe.* ^It is admitted by his son that
Sir Hudson Lowe's temper was naturally
"violent and hastyenough"t — all the greater
credit to him then for his admirable self-

* From a letter of Colonel Jackson to Mr. Henry, see
Henry, ii. 58.
\ " Memoir," United Service Magazine, Jane, 1844.
150

At St. Helena

control. u/It is right to state that in an
unpublished memorandum made long after,
Sir Hudson Lowe writes : " It is but justice
to Napoleon to observe that he was never
so very coarse and rude in his manner or
language as he has been represented to
have been : many a lie has thus been
fathered upon him." Finally, to dispose
of these charges, I will quote from a letter
of Colonel Jackson to Mr. Henry, provoked
by Mr. Henry's having, in his first edition,
made some remark about Sir Hudson
Lowe's temper on the authority of O'Meara,
which in the second edition he withdrew
on ascertaining that O'Meara's statement
was unworthy of credit, while at the
same time he says for himself that, during
four years' acquaintance with Sir Hudson
Lowe, "the demeanour of this much-
injured man was always gentlemanly and
courteous, both to myself and all around
him." Colonel Jackson writes as follows :
151

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

"Few persons, if any, are better acquainted
with Sir Hudson Lowe tiian myself. When he was
Quartermaster-General in 1814 and 1815, I was
Deputy Assistant in the Department and attached
to the office, when I was with him every day,
and had indeed more communication with him
than others, and sometimes of a confidential
character/\yl also at that time saw him when
certain circumstances gave him much annoyance;
but cannot recollect any single instance of his
breaking out into any unseemly bursts of anger,
or showing real uncourteousness.\/ He was very
much liked by all who served under him, being
at all times kind, considerate, generous, and
hospitable. . . Depend upon it the reports
spread of Sir Hudson Lowe's 'bursts of un-
dignified and reprehensible passion ' were wholly
without foundation as regards the persons at
Longwood, and most grossly exaggerated as
regards ourselves. I have heard Sir George
Bingham speak highly of Sir Hudson; your
friend. General Nicol, does the same, and,
in fact, most of the officers of rank who
were at St. Helena, and I cannot remember to
have heard any one complain of Sir Hudson's
temper. Like othq? men, he is liable to the
infirmities of our nature; but want of proper
self-command has never been one of his defects."
1,53

At St. Helena

Even Sir Walter Scott (in his Life of
Napoleon), whom no one would ever accuse
of unwillingness to do justice to the reputa-
tion of another, or suspect of unfairness in
the use of materials placed at his command,
considers that Sir Hudson Lowe failed in
" proper command of temper in his inter-
course with Napoleon," and in "steadiness
of purpose." On the second point I have
already said enough. '^As to the charge
against Sir Hudson Lowe's temper, we
must remember that Sir Walter had not
the materials for a complete defence.'^ This
required an inspection of the minutes made
by Major Gorrequer of the conversations
held, a comparison of O'Meara's printed
narrative with his private letters, and the
consideration of many documents in Sir
Hudson Lowe's possession which Sir
Walter Scott had no opportunity of perus-
ing. Moreover, at the time he wrote. Sir
Hudson Lowe was in Ceylon, so he could
153

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

not consult him personally. It is however
impossible to suppose that Sir Walter can
have attentively read the correspondence
between Lord Bathurst and the Governor
of St. Helena, and the other official docu-
ments, and weighed their evidence against
that of such authors as O'Meara, Las Cases,
and Antommarchi. In them there is not
a line to warrant the conclusion that Sir
Hudson Lowe ever regarded Napoleon as
"an object of resentment, and open to
retort and retaliation." Sir Archibald
Alison's language (in his History of Europe)
is more unfavourable. He says : "Sir
Hudson Lowe, who was appointed to the
military command of the island, proved an
unhappy selection. His manner was rigid
and unaccommodating, and his temper of
mind was not such as to soften the distress
which the Emperor endured during his
detention." Lord Campbell is still more
condemnatory in his " Life of Lord Eldon "
154

At St. Helena

{Lives of the Chancellors). He says: "As
things were managed, I am afraid it will
be said that he (Napoleon) was treated, in
the nineteenth century, with the same cruel
spirit as the Maid of Orleans was in the
fifteenth ; and there may be tragedies on
the Death of Napoleon, in which Sir
Hudson Lowe will be the sbirro, and
even Lord Eldon may be introduced as the
stern old councillor who decreed the hero's
imprisonment." But these writers had no
more means of knowing the truth than
what Sir Walter Scott possessed, and it is
"impossible not to see that they have all
been influenced in their opinions by the
assertions of authors, the bitterest enemies
of Sir Hudson Lowe, who had hitherto
occupied the field of narrative with regard
to the events at St. Helena." * (As I have
already remarked, all this has been altered
since the publication of Mr. Forsyth's book,

* Forsyth, i. 125.
155

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

and those who now beheve that Sir Hudson
Lowe was guilty of harshness of temper
and coarseness of language will believe
almost anything/

(4) (That Sir Hudson Lowe gradually pro-
cured the dismissal of the faithful attendants
of Napoleon with the intention of aggra-
vating the prisoners painful situation and
getting him more and m-ore into his powepl
(L.a.s Cases, Gourgaud, Bertrand and Mon-
tholon were the four principal sharers of
Napoleon's exile, and they, together \vith
the surgeon O'Meara, were those most
about his person. (The circumstances
attending the removal of O'Meara have
already been narrated, and it has been
shown that Sir Hudson Lowe would have
endeavoured to procure his removal at an
earlier period, had it not been that he was
unwilling to remove one to whom the
Emperor seemed attached^ 'At the close
of 1 8 16 Las Cases was sent away owing
156

At St. Helena

to the discovery of unauthorised communi-
cations by him/ I need not go into the
details, as they are not in dispute. A
servant of Las Cases who was going to
Europe was accidentally discovered to have
a letter concealed in the lining of his waist-
coat. But it is ve^y doubtful whether Las
Cases, in spite of his protestations, had any
objection to leave Longwood. He had to
sail first to the Cape of Good Hope, in
accordance with the instructions from
England that those who left St. Helena
should go first to the Cape, and, in the
interval before a ship was ready for him.
Sir Hudson Lowe gave him the option of
returning to Longwood, but he never
availed himself of it. /D'Meara says, in a
letter to Mr. Finlaison, that in his opinion
Las Cases had planned the whole scheme
on purpose to be detected, being heartily
tired of his residence in the island^ in other
words, that (in sporting language) "he
157

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

was riding for a fall." V I do not think the
•evidence goes as far as this, but it is hardly
uncharitable to suppose with Colonel
Jackson that he was " very glad to get out
of the mess," * in spite of the fact that he
was genuinely attached to his master.v Sir
Hudson Lowe gave him a friendly letter
of introduction to Lord Charles Somerset,
Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, who
thus wrote back some time afterwards,
when Las Cases' Journal had been
published : " The whole of the Count's
publication (if it really be his) is so con-
temptible a performance that I own his
wailings and his complaints, as far as they
involve myself, are matters perfectly in-
different to me ; with regard to his asser-
tions respecting the Cape and his treat-
ment here, I know them to be so ab-
solutely and impudently false that it is
jiot too much to presume that there is

* Henry, ii. 47.
158

At St. Helena

not a single correct statement in the
whole book." *

Vln the beginning of 1818 General Gour-
gaud of his own accord applied for leave to
return to Europe, which was granted.i/vFor
a long time Napoleon had ceased to be
cordial to him. He was hardly on speaking
terms with Bertrand, and at open enmity
with Montholon. " I used," says Colonel
Jackson, " frequently to call and chat with
him, when he would often lament his hard
fate, and sigh for La belle France, for Paris
and les Boulevards. At length maladie
de pays got the better of him, and he deter-
mined to leave Longwood. Sir Hudson
Lowe sent for me, and, having mentioned
Gourgaud's wish, asked whether it would
be agreeable for me to reside with him
until an opportunity should offer for his

quitting St. Helena Accordingly,

General Gourgaud and myself were in-

* Forsyth, iii. 148.
159

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

stalled in a comfortable house, in which
servants and a table were provided for us
at the expense of Government. We lived
near the residence of the Austrian and
Russian Commissioners, whom we occa-
sionally visited, and nothing could exceed
the attention and hospitality of Sir Hudson
Lowe to General Gourgaud.V Colonel
Jackson then gives a remarkable instance
of the Governor's generosity :

"In justice to that excellent and grossly
maligned individual, Sir Hudson Lowe, I shall
now relate a circumstance which I am sure
General Gourgaud will be ready to confirm.
When the latter removed from Longwood, I
accompanied him to the Governor's residence,
when I took an opportunity to leave him and
Sir Hudson tUe-a-Ute. Immediately on our
riding from Plantation House together, the
General broke out into strong exclamations of
surprise that Sir Hudson should simply have
received his visit as the call of one gentleman
upon another, without ever alluding to Long-
wood during their conversation. ' I expected,
* Henry, ii. 48,
160

At St. Helena

added he, ' that the Governor would have seized
with avidity so favourable an occasion as my
excited state offered to gather from me some
information about the goings on at Longwood.
Je ne reviens pas de mon Honneinent, non, je n'en
reviens pas. These expressions of surprise he
repeated over and over again during our short
ride.* I may add that I had many opportuni-
ties of remarking the really chivalrous delicacy
of Sir Hudson in reference to General Gourgaud.
\/^ Although the Emperor and the General did
not part the best friends, yet, as it was known at
Longwood that the latter was unprovided with
funds, a considerable sum was offered to him by
Napoleon, and even pressed on his acceptance
when leaving Longwood, which he declined to
receive. ^ But soon after, when about to embark
for England, the poor General found the usual
inconveniences of a penniless position, and sent
me to Longwood to ask Marshal Bertrand for a
loan of two or three hundred pounds. The
Marshal declined, saying that the Emperor had
offered him a much larger sum, the refusal of
which was most disrespectful ; but added that

* The forbearance of Sir Hudson Lowe in not ques-
tioning General Gourgaud is nothing remarkable. What
is more noticeable is the General's surprise at it.
i6i L

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

even then, if General Gourgaud would accept
the Emperor's gift, he would also lend him the
sum he asked.

" Gourgaud was a good deal distressed by the
refusal of Bertrand, which was quite unexpected,
but still declined placing himself under a pecu-
niary obligation to Napoleon ; ^d would have
sailed to England without a shilling but for Sir
Hudson Lowe, who, as soon as he learned the
circumstances, sent him by note an order for one
hundred pounds on his bankers in London."*^

LxTo this letter of Colonel Jackson, Mr.
Henry adds : " The honourable traits he
gives of Sir Hudson Lowe are in my humble
opinion quite in keeping with the true
character of that distinguished officer."^
')^Colonel Jackson tells us also that after
General Gourgaud's arrival in England he
was turned round again by politicians there
in favour of Napoleon, who told him that
otherwise he would be of no account. ' ' This
he did by inditing a letter to Marie Louise
in which he inveighed against the treatment

* Henry, it. 48-50.
162

At St. Helena

of Napoleon at the hands of Government
and Sir Hudson Lowe, which being duly
published, Gourgaud fell to zero in the
opinion of all right-minded persons." 'J^ We
have seen in Mr. Henry's narrative how
an attempt was made to bribe him to
become Hhomme de F Empereur. l/After the
departure of O'Meara, in July 1818, Mr.
Stokoe, the surgeon of H.M.S. Conqueror,
was, at the request of the Longwood people,
appointed medical attendant to Napoleon ;
but as he was known to be a man of good
nature and easy disposition he was strictly
charged by the Governor and the Admiral
to sign no document whatever without
their knowledge and permission.^/' S' The
new medical attendant," says Mr. Henry,
"like many others, lost his wits in the
presence of Napoleon, totally forgot his
orders, and signed the first paper that
was offered, for which disobedience the

* Waterloo and St. Helena, p. 103.
163

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Admiral sent him home under arrest.^
He was afterwards sent back to St.
Helena, tried by court-martial, and sen-
tenced to be dismissed the service, though
allowed a pension on account of his long
services. ^ Of course the Stokoe affair has
been made a charge against Sir Hudson
Lowe. N/Next Dr. Verling, of the Royal
Artillery, was ordered to take up his abode
at Longwood, and after a short time he
was offered a very large bribe by Mon-
tholon if he would abandon the Governor
and attach, himself to the Emperor, as
O'Meara had done.^^'^ut Dr. Verling was
a man of a different stamp from poor
Stokoe. v\Fhe Count's proposition was
indignantly rejected : the doctor mounted
his horse and rode to Plantation House,
reported the affair to the Governor, and
requested to be relieved from a post where
he was liable to such an insult. He could
not be relieved at the time, and remained

At St. Helena

at Longwood until the arrival of Dr.
Antommarchij^^ So much then for the
"removal" of Las Cases, Gourgaud, and
Stokoe. >>^Count Bertrand and Montholon
remained to the end, and were, as we
have seen, on good terms with Sir
Hudson Lowe after the death of Napoleon.>-
Bertrand afterwards was so far from sup-
porting the credit of O'Meara's book that
he published in the Constitutionnel a letter,
in which he stated it as due to the memory
of Napoleon, to France and to Europe, to
declare himself an utter stranger to the
conversations reported in A Voice from
St. Helena.*

v/(5) Thqt enough money was not allowed
for the support in proper style of Napoleon
and his suite, and that in consequence some
cf Napoleons plate had to be broken up
and sold to supply the deficiency. V^Xi we
believe Las Cases, they were in actual

* United Service Magazine, June 1844, p. 293.
165

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

want of food ; if we believe Napoleon
himself, "there had been enough to eat
supplied, though not enough to keep -a
proper table" ; but if we look to the evidence
of facts we can believe neither of them.v
i/The orders of Government were that the
table was to be supplied on the scale of a
general of the first rank. Sir Hudson
Lowe, finding on his arrival that the
amount of ;^8ooo a year allowed by
Government for the Longwood establish-
ment was not sufficient, immediately, and
on his own responsibility, raised it to,
;^ 1 2,000 a year, which, if expenses had
been kept within reasonable limits, would
have been ample. Anything beyond this
was defrayed by Napoleon himselfv'^Per-
sonally the Emperor was not extravagant
in his living, but the extravagance of his
followers knew no bounds/ In one of
O'Meara's letters to Mr. Finlaison — the
statement will be sought in vain in his

166

At St. Helena

book — he calls them " except one or two,
the greatest gluttons and epicures he ever
saw," and he goes on to describe their
style of living. KEach upper domestic was
allowed a bottle of claret a day at the price
of £6 per dozen, and the amount of wine
consumed averaged two bottles a day per
head for the whole establishment. The
food was plentiful, but the quality some-
times left something to be desired. Colonel
Jackson says, "provisions may not have
been of the highest quality, though the best
the island afforded."*/ That of course is
the point, and Mr. Henry humorously
complains of the inferior living that the
66th Regiment had to put up with, " The
superior quality," he says, "of everything
used at Longwood at this time was no-
torious. The purveyor for that establish-
ment found means always to monopolise
the best meat ; his daily cart conveying

* Waterloo and St. Helena, p. iii.
167

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

provisions to Longwood often underwent
the envious scrutiny of our ofificers, as they
met it in the course of their rides, when
the peevish exclamation, ' We can't get any-
thing like that for the mess,' was generally
the result."* ^We also find Dr. Baxter,
the Deputy- Inspector of Hospitals at St.
Helena, requesting the Governor to in-
terfere " in the universal and sweeping
monopoly of the contractors for Long-
wood," and complaining that he cannot
, get enough milk for the sick of the 53rd
RegimentK On one occasion a complaint
was made that not enough coals and wood
was allowed. The Governor immediately
ordered the allowance of coal to be doubled,
the wood to remain the same, on account
of the great scarcity of wood in the island.
The next time they were out of wood the
French servants broke up a bedstead and
some shelves for the fires at Longwood,

* "Henry, ii. 54, note.
168

At St. Helena

pretending that they would not be allowed
more wood. Napoleon approved of wood
not being asked for, saying he could pay
for it himself. The Governor remarked,
on hearing of it, that this was always the
way : they never would tell what they
required, and then complained of the want
of it. kAs to breaking up the plate, it was
well' known that Napoleon had plenty of
ready money at his command, and that con-
sequently this pretended sacrifice was made
for the edification of the European public.
^O'Meara in a letter to Mr. Finlaison says
of Napoleon, "In this he has also a wish
to excite an odium against the Governor
by saying that he has been obliged to
sell his plate in order to provide against
starvation, as he himself told me was his
object." i/Of a second sale of plate Mon-
tholon writes, " I was to persist in saying
that his (Napoleon's) plate was his only

resource at St. Helena ; and I received

169

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

the order to have all the plate broken up,
with the exception of twelve covers," thus
admitting in so many words that the scheme
was one to impose on the public. But the
pretence of ill-treatment was not always
consistently kept up, and we find towards
the end of the time various acknowledg-
ments by Montholon of the trouble which
was taken to supply them properly. Thus,
in January 1 820, he said to Major Gorrequer,
in reply to a question on the subject of pro-
visions, ' ' We can only congratulate our-
selveson the manner in which we are served."
(6) That Napoleon was not allowed to
have a regular supply of books and newS'
papers, and that what were sent were often
detained altogether, or for some time, by Sir
Hudson Lowe. This has been an effective
charge, and, if there is any gradation in
falsehood, one of the falsest. As for books,
one work by Mr. Hobhouse (afterwards
Lord Broughton), sent by the author to
170

At St. Helena

Napoleon, was, it is true, detained by the
Governor, because in one volume was
written " Imperatori Napoleon." It may
have been good or bad judgment to detain
the volumes, but the point is that in a note
to Sir Hudson Lowe Mr. Hobhouse ex-
pressly authorised detention of them, " if it
be thought improper to give them at all to
the person for whom they are destined."
This seems to be the only case in which a
book was kept back. On the other hand,
many hundreds of pounds' worth of books
were sent by booksellers to Napoleon and
received by him. With regard to news-
papers. Count Montholon writes in his
" Remonstrance," which was meant for
European consumption only: "We are
prohibited from receiving the Morning
Chronicle, the. Morning Post, or any French
papers ; occasionally a few odd numbers of
the Times are sent to Longwood." To

this the Governor replied, speaking in the

171

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

third person : " General Bonaparte once
sent a message to him requesting him to
send him the Morning Chronicle, and he
immediately sent the whole of those which
he had then in his possession. No appli-
cation was ever made to him to subscribe
either to the Morning Chronicle or the
Morning Post, or to any French journals.
Had such an application been made he
would have made the application known' to
his Government. It has not been odd
numbers of the Times newspaper, but
regular series of them, which have been
constantly sent, the Governor never having
kept back a single number. If any numbers
were kept back it must have been done by
his (Napoleon's) own followers, to whom
they were always enclosed for him."
V O'Meara too says, in his A Voice from St.
Helena, that very few newspapers were
received, that " none except some uncon-
nected numbers of the Times, Courier,
172

At St. Helena

Observer, 8cc., with a few straggling French
papers of a very old date, reached Long-
wood during his residence there, except in
one instance, when he was permitted to
take the Morning Chronicle for some weeks
as a great favour, which was not again
repeated," * And yet O'Meara had written
to Sir Hudson Lowe on the previous June
20, in reply to inquiries of the Governor
"to be informed of the names of such
newspapers as General Bonaparte may
have received." After giving the names
of a good many English newspapers, he
says: " These, with the usual series of papers
sent by yourself, some French papers, and
Morning Chronicle for October, November,
and part of December, also sent by yourself,
form the whole of the newspapers he has
received. '(/The truthful doctor thus disposes
of himself. Yet this entry of March 28,
1 8 18, is retained in the 1888 edition !

* A Voice from St, Helena, ii. 397, under March 38, 1818.
173

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

{'jyThat Sir Hudson Lowe offered in-
ducements to O'Meara to act as a spy, and
on his refusal fried to ruin him. i/This
charge has been already dealt with by
anticipation under the general account of
O'Meara. We have also seen that the
Governor abstained from putting questions
to General Gourgaud about Longwood at
a time when he might have obtained much
information. "^ I will add what Colonel
Jackson says, to show how foreign it was
to the honourable nature of Sir Hudson
Lowe to expect such services : " It is in-
cumbent on me , in this place distinctly to
declare that Sir Hudson Lowe never
breathed a word to me having reference to
surveillance ; and I may also state that the
great delicacy observed by him on that
point first inspired in me the high respect
for his character which I have never since
.ceased to feel up to the present moment." *

* United Service Magazine, March 1844, p. 418.
174

At St. Helena

Towards people in general who visited
Longwood the Governor clearly states his
attitude in a letter to Sir Pulteney Malcolm,
the Admiral then on the station : " When
visitors did go I was not in the habit of
troubling them with interrogations, and
can boldly appeal to every person who has
been admitted to visit at Longwood, or the
Bertrands', for the delicacy I have observed
on this point. I should not, however, the
less expect, if anything important for me
to learn was said, that it should be made
known to me. If I thought reserve
practised I would not hesitate to question
■ — considering that any conversation had
with General Bonaparte, or the persons of
his suite, which has relation to my duties
on this island, or embraces any subject of
political interest, ought as a matter of
course to be communicated to me, as well
from regard to the situation I fill here as
to the confidence which Government has
175

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

reposed in me, being at the same time
rendered by their instructions the respon-
sible person for all conversations with him."
This was an intelligible position for the
Governor to maintain, and the more justi-
fiable because of the refusal of Napoleon
to hold personal intercourse with him.

{?>)-^kat surreptitious bulletins were
given to the Governor of Napoleon's health
by a person who never saw him. This
charge is made by O'Meara,* and is a
good example of suppressio veri. The ex-
planation is simple enough. " Nothing,"
says Mr. Forsyth, "could be more proper
than that the Governor should endeavour
to obtain a second opinion as to the health
and medical treatment of Napoleon from a
skilful professional person, who was com-
petent to form a judgment upon O'Meara's
medical details. In reality, however, the
so-called ' fictitious bulletins ' were merely

* A Voice from St. Helena, ii. 398.
176

At St. Helena

repetitions of the information given by
O'Meara to Mr. Baxter, and the writer
rarely expressed any opinion of his own."
A)r. Baxter was the principal medical
ofificer on the island, and his services had
been offered by Sir Hudson to Napoleon,
who refused to see him, and at the same time
intimated that he distrusted any medical
man in the confidence of the Governor., '^
Dr. Baxter himself wrote on the subject
as follows : " The expressions of Mr.
O'Meara were scrupulously attended to
in making the report to the Governor,
and for the truth of the statements made
by me to the Governor from these exami-
nations I pledge myself as a man of
honour. In the preamble to the report
it Is explicitly stated to be the substance
of an examination of Mr. O'Meara touching
the state of health of Napoleon Bonaparte,
and does in no way imply that I was in
attendance upon him." It is difficult to

177 M

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

see what there' was " sQrreptitious " in this.
No 'change, however, is rricide in the recent
edition of O'Meara's book.
V' (9) That Sir Hudson Lowe had thrown
obstacles in the way of Napoleon receiving
a marble bust of his son, the young Due
de Reichstadt, and had even suggested that
it should be destroyed to prevent it from
reaching Longwood>l O'Meara is the prin-
cipal disseminator of this charge when he
says : " The bust had been in the island
for fourteen days, during several of which
it was at Plantation House."* I have
purposely kept this charge to the last,
35 it is the one that would tell (and did
rell) most of all upon the British public,
and if there had been any truth in it the
name of Sir Hudson Lowe would be
deservedly branded as tha:t of a man
wanting in all delicacy of feeling and a
stranger to the natural affections. But

* A Void from St. Helena, ii. lob, note.
178

At St. Helena

the charge is simply untrue. The bust
was landed on the loth or nth of June
and sent to Longwood on the next day. As
so much has been made of this matter,
Mr. Forsyth deals with it at some length,
and supports all he says by documentary
evidence printed at the end of his second
volume. He writes as follows: " It is not
quite clear how the bust was made, but at all
events it was purchased by Messrs. Beaggini
in London in hopes that a favourable op-
portunity might occur for transmitting it to
St. Helena. It happened that a vessel,
the Baring, commanded by Captain Lamb,
was about to sail there in January 1817,
on board of which was a foreign sailcfr
^amed Rethwick or Radovitch, in the
capacity of gunner, and to him Messrs.
Beaggini confided the bust, with in-
structions that he was to endeavour to
give it to Count Bertrand for Napoleon,

and to make no stipulation for any pay-
179

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

merit, but leave it to the generosity of
' the Emperor ' to refund their expense/
If, however, Bonaparte wished to know
the price, he was to ask a hundred louis.
for the bust/ Captain Lamb had no
knowledge of the matter until shortly
before or immediately after the arrival
of his ship at St. Helena on May 28.
At that time Rethwick was ill from a
fit of apoplexy, which was succeeded
by delirium, so that it was for several
days impossible to speak to him on the
subject. When Sir Thomas Reade was
informed that the bust was on board, he
immediately went to the Governor and
acquainted him wit^ the fact. Sir Hudson
Lowe at first hesitated as to the course
which his duty required him to take —
considering the clandestine manner in
which an attempt was thus made to com-
municate with Napoleon— and he was
inclined not to allow the bust to be
180

At St. Helena

forwarded until he had communicated
with Lord Bathurst on the subject. Sir
Thomas Reade, however, suggested that,
as the bust was made of marble and not
plaster, so that it could not possibly contain
anything improper, it might be forwarded
to Longwood at once, and, as its arrival
had already become known. Sir Hudson
assented to the proposal. Before, how-
ever, ordering it to be sent on shore, he
went on June lo to Longwood to com-
municate with Count Bertrand and ascer-
tain Napoleon's wishes. Major Gorrequer
accompanied him, and he gives in his
Minutes the following account of the inter-
view:

C-^The Governor called on Count Bertrand
(whither I attended him), and informed him that
in the storeship (the Baring) was a marble bust
said to be that of the young Napoleon ; that it
appeared it was brought out by an under-officer
of the ship ; that, although it had come in a very
irregular manner, yet, under the impression that

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon,

it might be a thing acceptable 'd celui qui
residait ai Longwood,' he would take upon him-
self the responsibility of landing it, if such was
his wish; that he- requested Count Bertrand
would make it known, and inform him if he
wished to have it, and it would be brought on
shore. He answered, ' Oh ! sans doufe, que
(a lui fera plaisir ; envoyez-le toujours.' The
Governor added, the man in whose charge it
came was ill, in fact delirious, and it was im-
possible to speak to him on the subject. All he
knew about it would be found in the two papers
(one a letter, the other a memorandum) which
he handed over ta.the Count, who read them
(they were in Italian) and returned them. After
leaving the house, the Governor went back (I
following), and again gave the two papers to the
Count, that he might show them to General
Bonaparte, begging he afterwards would return
them to him, and told Count Bertrand he would
have the bust landed the following day.'

"The next day the bust was landed and
sent up to Longwood, when Bonaparte
received it with evident satisfaction and
delight. vHe had, however, been informed
of its arrival (how it does not appear)
183

At St. Helena

some days previously. Qn the loth he
had said to O'Meara : ' I have known of it
for several days. I intended, if, it had not
been given, to have made such a complaint
as would have caused every Englishman's
hair to stand on end. with horror. I would
have told a tale which. would have made
the mothers of England execrate him as a
monster in human shape.'i^No one can
doubt this, for there was no lack of wil-
lingness or of ability for the purpose ; but
unfortunately for the well-conceived plot of
the story the Governor did not give him
the opportunity. ^But Napoleon persisted
in believing, or affecting to believe, that
the latter had originally given orders for
the. destruction of the bust, telling
O'Meara, who endeavoured to convince
him of the contrary, i/that it was in vairi
to attempt to deny a known fact ' ; and
upon this imiaginary hypothesis he broke
out into a violent tirade against Sir
183

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Hudson Lowe, calling him barbarous
and atrocious. ' That countenance,' he
exclaimed, gazing at the marble image
of his son, 'would melt the heart of the
most ferocious wild beast. The man who
gave orders to break that image would
plunge a knife into the heart of/ the
original if it were in his power.'"* Sub-
sequently Count Bertrand had an inter-
view with Captain Lamb, and asked him
whether the Governor had not intended
to keep back the bust altogether, and
whether he had not spoken of breaking
it to pieces. To this Captain Lamb very
properly replied that if Sir Hudson Lowe
had intended to keep it back he need only
have mentioned his wish to him, when of
course it would not have been landed.
The sailor who brought it received a
cheque for ;^300 from the Emperor.'^ Of
him O'Meara says : " By means of some

* Forsyth, ii. 146-149,
184

At St. Helena

unworthy tricks the poor man did not
receive the money for nearly two years."
The fact is, however, that the man turned
out to be a great scamp. He received
the money and would not return any of it
to Messrs. Beaggini, who, about a year
and eight months afterwards, wrote to
Count Bertrand to inform him of the
conduct of Radovitch, and to solicit some
remuneration for themselves. It will
hardly be believed that this atrocious
charge against Sir Hudson Lowe is
retained unaltered in the 1888 edition of
O'Meara's book, in spite of the exposure
of its falsehood by Mr. Forsyth. At a
later period Sir Hudson Lowe received
a despatch from Lord Bathurst containing
the Prince Regent's approval of his con-
duct in sending to Napoleon the bust of
his son. But Lord Bathurst added : " The
suspicious circumstances, however, under

which it arrived at St. Helena, as detailed

185

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

in your despatch, were sufficient to make
you pause before you determined to
transmit it to the General. Had the
package contained anything less interest-
ing to him in his private character as a
father, the -clandestine manner in which
it appears to have been introduced on
board the vessel would have been a
sufficient reason for withholding the de-
livery of it, at least for a much longer
period." The Government therefore not
only approved of Sir Hudson Lowe's
conduct in this matter, but evidently
considered that he needed a slight warn-
ing against showing too much leniency.
^The chief specific charges against Sir
Hudson Lowe have now been stated,' and
it is time to look a little at the other side
of the picture, to show not merely that he
was not guilty of any of the atrocities of
which he had been so recklessly accused,
but that he was a man remarkable- for

i86

At St. Helena

delicacy, generosity, and humanityK'To
his delicacy Mr. Henry bears witness in
the following striking passage :

"It is extremely probable, and I believe it to
be a fact, that Sir Hudson Lowe went to St.
Helena determined to conduct himself with
courtesy and , kindness to Napoleon, and to
afford him as many comforts and as much
personal freedom as were consistent with his
safe custody. I was intimately acquainted with
the officer charged with the care of Longwood
for nearly three years, and he assured me that
the Governor repeatedly desired him to consult
the comfort, of the great man and his suite, to
attend to their suggestions, and to make their
residence as agreeable as possible. Two of the
orderly officers at Longwood, namely. Majors
Blakeney and Nicholls of the 66th Regiment,
have given me the same assurance. I have
myself seen courteous notes from Sir Hudson
Lowe to these officers, accompanying pheasants
and other delicacies sent from Plantation House
for Napoleon's table. Even after two unfortu-
' nate interviews, when the Emperor worked him-
self into a rage and used gross, and insulting
expressions to the Governor, evidently to put
187

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

him into a passion, but without success (for Sir
Hudson maintained perfect self-possession and
self-command throughout), even after this open
breach the above civilities were not discontinued.
Still, when a pheasant, the greatest rarity in the
island, appeared on the Governor's table, one
was sure to be sent to Longwood." •

A little further on the same writer says :

"During my residence at St. Helena oppor-
tunities of observing minutely the character of
Sir Hudson Lowe were not wanting, and I
believe nobody could fill all the ordinary rela-
tions of domestic life and of society better than
this much calumniated man. He was to my
certain knowledge a kind husband and father,
and I believe an excellent magistrate and civil
governor."

J I have mentioned acts of courtesy on
the part of Sir Hudson Lowe to Countess
Bertrand, There was no reason to com-
plain of her demeanour or of that of
Countess Montholon during their stay at
St. Helena. Countess Bertrand was a

* Henry, ii. 57.

At St. Helena

lady of much spirit and wit.t^ Mr. Henry
frequently lets us see how highly he
thought of her. One of her witty re-
marks is preserved amid the constant
tale of bickering. She was confined in
January 1817, and some days afterwards,
when Napoleon paid her a visit, she said
to him : " Sire, I have the honour to present
to your Majesty le premier Frangais who,
since your arrival, has entered Longwood
without Lord Bathurst's permission." The
child was named after the Emperors of
Austria and Russia and the Duke of
Wellington. When a letter arrived an-
nouncing the death of the Countess's
mother. Sir Hudson Lowe sent it with
a note to Count Bertrand from himself,
so that the news might be broken gently
to her. No one could have acted with
more delicacy ; yet because, nearly a year
afterwards, the Countess received a letter
brought by a person who came out as

Sir Hudson Low& and Napoleon

governess to her children, speaking of
the death of her mother as a long past
event, he is, under the head of " Brutal
conduct of Sir Hudson Lowe to the
Countess Bertrand," accused by O'Meara
of little less than a design upon her life
in having suffered the letter to reach her ! *
Again, when a newspaper arrived which
contained an announcement that Count
Bertrand had been condemned par con-
iumace for high treason, Sir Hudson
Lowe caused the paper to be sent
separately to the Count with a private
note, for fear the news might first meet
the eye of the Countess. At another time,
when a newspaper mentioned the death of
one of Count Montholon's children, the
Governor enclosed the paper with a note
to the Abbd Buonavita, whom he con-

* O'Meara's Exposition, pp. 152, 153. This was a
publication sent out by O'Meara to St. Helena in 1819 : a
sort of skeleton outline, afterwards filled out to the pro-
portions oiA Voice from St. Helena.
190

At St. Helena

sidered the proper person to break the
information to Count Montholon. These
are indeed remarkable instances of coarse-
mlridedness and brutality on the Governor's
part ! Let it be noticed also how some of
his civilities were received."^ Early in July
i8i 7 there arrived at St. Helena a beautiful
set of chessmen, two workboxes, and some
other articles of Chinese manufacture as a
present to Napoleon from the Hon. John
Elphinston^ as a mark of gratitude to the
Emperor for having saved the life of his
brother, Captain Elphinstone, who was
severely wounded and made prisoner on
the day before Waterloo. Mr. Forsyth
thus writes : " The letter that accompanied
them was immediately forwarded to Long-
wood, with an intimation that the articles
would follow, \/On examining them it was
discovered that the presents were marked
with eagles and the initial N., surmounted
by the Imperial crown, a recognition or
191

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

allusion to his former rank which rendered
them under the regulations inadmissible.
Sir Hudson Lowe, however, did not enforce
the rules, and transmitted the articles ; but
he thought it right to advert to the irregu-
larity, and wrote to Bertrand, saying that
if he were to act in strict conformity with
the established /rules he ought to delay
sending them ; but that, as he had promised
that the boxes should follow the letter, he;
had no alternative but to forward them."\
Bertrand replied angrily that the Emperor'
would not accept favours from anybody,
nor be indebted for anything to the caprice
of any one, but that he claimed to be made
acquainted with the restrictions imposed
upon him." Sir Hudson answered : " I
have not the pretension to bestow a
favour on General Bonaparte, and still
less the arrogance of subjecting him to
any act of my caprice. He is under no
restriction which my Government does
192

At St. Helena

not know, and which all the world may
not know." Some time afterwards Lord
Bathurst wrote to Sir Hudson Lowe that
the Government, while approving of the
Governor's having forwarded the presents
to Napoleon under the circumstances, yet
" in case of any present being hereafter
forwarded to General Bonaparte to which
emblems or titles of sovereignty are an-
nexed, you are to consider that circum-
stance as altogether precluding its delivery,
if they cannot be removed without pre-
judice to the present itself." It may be
granted that this attitude is undignified
and altogether unworthy of the British
Government ; but, as before remarked, the
point to insist on is that Sir Hudson Lowe
used his power to mitigate harshness and
not to aggravate it. We come across
another of O'Meara's misstatements in
connexion with these very presents. He
says that Captain Haviside, who brought

193 N

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

them from China, "on having obtained
permission to visit Longwood soon after
his arrival, was ordered by the Governor
to maintain a strict silence on the subject
to all the French."* Years afterwards, on
reading the passage in O'Meara's book,
Captain Haviside spontaneously wrote to-
Sir Hudson Lowe, saying he trusted Sir
Hudson would do him the honour to
believe that he was not the author of
this misrepresentation, that he had had
every facility given him for visiting Long-
wood, and that he conversed some time
with Count and Countess Bertrand on the
subject of the presents. And yet the mis-
representation is repeated in the recent
edition of O'Meara, no notice whatever
being taken of Captain Haviside's con-
tradiction ! Soon after his arrival at St.
Helena Sir Hudson Lowe sent up some
fowling-pieces to Longwood. This was

* A Voice from St. Helena, ii. n8.
194

At St. Helena

resented as an insult, on the ground
that the parts of the island where game
could be shot were outside the precincts
of Longwood ; and yet at another time the
servant Santini boasted that he supplied
the table with the game he shot, when it
was wished to make out that they were
short of provisions ! A writer in the
Leisure Hour shall give another in-
stance : "A wish on one occasion was
expressed for a set of dining-tables.
Immediately, as in every instance of the
kind, no labour attainable on the island,
and indeed no expense, was spared in
order as expeditiously as possible to
meet the requirements, and in a very
short time a handsome mahogany set
made its appearance at Longwood. When
seeing it, one of the Emperor's most dis-
tinguished attendants gave orders for its
removal, observing at the same time that
it was not at all the thing the Emperor
195

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

desired ; he wished for a plain deal table.
Promptly, as before, was this wish also met,
and a deal table accordingly was placed
by direction in one of the dining-rooms
at Longwood. On one occasion some
visitors were conducted over several of
the apartments, not excepting the dining-
room referred to, with the deal table. The
strangers, beholding the Emperor's humble
dining-table, as intimated to them by their
polite attendant with an expressive shrug,
were at once overwhelmed with amazement
and the deepest sympathy."* On their re-
turn to England, these people, with the best
intentions, naturally gave this as an instance
of the affronts and privations endured by
the illustrious exile.^^Sir Hudson Lowe
sent some excellent coffee to Longwood,
thinking it would be an acceptable present.
And so it was considered by Napoleon ;

* Leisure Hour, October i, 1870, " Recollections of
St. Helena."

196

At St. Helena

but Count Montholon called it "an in-
explicable idea of performing an act of
politeness," and hesitated to convey the
message about it to Napoleon, who, how-
ever, said to his astonishment : " Cause the
case to be carried to the pantry ; good
coffee is a precious thing in this horrible
place." Cipriani, the mattre-cP hStel, sus-
pected that the coffee might be poisoned !
Montholon adds, "in fact, the coffee was
excellent."i/ During the February of 1821
(about two months before his death)
Napoleon was attacked with constant
sickness, and had great difficulty in keep-
ing any food upon his stomach. Meat
jelly made of veal was what he most
easily retained, and when this was dis-
covered some was immediatefy sent for
his use from Plantation House, and a
cook was also despatched by the Governor
to Longwood who made excellent soup,
of which Napoleon partook with much en-
197

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

joyment. Count Montholon told Captain
Lutyens (the orderly officer) "it was so

good the d d doctor would not let the

Emperor eat much of it." i/We read also
of the Governor sending books from his
own library of the kind which Napoleon
said he wanted, and he desired his secre-
tary to make it known that he would attend
to any further suggestions on the same
subject. But perhaps enough has been
said of the peculiar "brutality" of Sir
Hudson Lowe. ^^ His generosity towards
General Gourgaud has already been
mentioned. Another striking instance is
supplied by "|^r. Henry, who says :

" When about to quit St. Helena, some of the
foreigners were found to be considerably in debt
to the shopkeepers in James Town,, and one of
the highest rank among them owed no less a
sum than between nine hundred and a thousand
pounds.- Payment being delayed, legal measures
were threatened, and all was consternation at
Longwood. In this dilemma application was
198

At St. Helena

made to the Governor, who handsomely offered
to guarantee payment of the debt, thus removing
the principal difficulty in the way of their em-
barkation. £>4 have heard that the amount was
paid soon after their arrival in Europe, and I
should expect nothing else from the high charac-
ter of the distinguished debtor. This generous
behaviour of the Governor, together with other
acts of kindness to the exiles, after Napoleon's
death, notwithstanding the abuse they had all
publicly and privately showered upon his charac-
ter, prove that Sir Hudson Lowe was a very
different man from what he was represented by
his enemies at the time, and what the world still
believes him to he."%^

Many years later one of the atrocious
calumnies circulated against Sir Hudson
Lowe was this : A paragraph appeared in
a London paper stating (as a quotation
from the National^) that military executions
were more frequent in Sicily then than they
had been since the time that Sir Hudson
Lowe held an appointment there. Sir
Hudson Lowe wrote to the editor as

* Henry, ii. 87.
199

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

follows : "I feel impelled to address this
note to you to desire it may be understood
that I never was employed as British Agent
at the Neapolitan Court, and that I utterly
deny the existence of a single circumstance
of any description or import which can
justify any person in presuming to couple
my name with military trials or executions
in Sicily or any other quarter of the globe."
And yet, after all, Sir Hudson Lowe's
name had been connected with military
executions in Calabria. But how ? In an
attempt to put a stop to them, as has already
been mentioned, when he wrote to General
Berthier thirty years earlier. \/ Does not
this well illustrate Sir Hudson's own remark
that whatever kindness he ",was guilfy of"
was turned against him ? ^
v/His humanity was shown on a larger
scale by a measure which has attracted
little attention, but which links the name

of Sir Hudson Lowe most honourably with
200

At St. Helena

the island of St. Helena. In 1818 he
obtained the consent of the slave pro-
prietors, not without some difficulty, to
abolish slavery without receiving any com-
pensation. It was resolved at a meeting
of the chief proprietors, "that from and
after the 25th December next ensuing all
children born of slaves shall be considered
free."v/^hus the abolition was unattended
with expense, and the mischief of sudden
emancipation avoided. Sir Hudson Lowe's
skill and management on this occasion were
highly appreciated by the East India Com-
pany, who thus cleared all their possessions
from this institution, In reference to this
measure at St. Helena, Sir Thomas Powell
Buxton is reported as having spoken as
follows in the House of Commons on the
May 15, 1823:

" The extinction of slavery which he declared
to be his object was to be effected by ordaining
that all negro children born after a certain day

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

should be free. Now, he would put it to his
opponents, where did they find this in their view
necessarily noisy [sic; qy. noxious] principle at
work? It is in full operation at this time at
St. Helena. Public curiosity has recently been
excited in an extraordinary degree. Books-
enough have been written to fill a library detail-
ing the administration of Sir Hudson Lowe.
Acts the most slight, anecdotes the most trivial,
expressions the most unmeaning have been
recorded with exact fidelity. Generations not
yet born shall know that on such a day in July
Sir Hudson Lowe pronounced that the weather
was warm, and that on such a day in the follow-
ing December Bonaparte offered a conjecture
that it would rain in the course of a week.
Nothing has escaped ' the researches of the
historian. Nothing has been overlooked by the
curiosity of the public. Nothing? Yes, one
thing has never been noticed. It has never
been noticed that Sir Hudson Lowe gave the
deathblow to slavery on that island."

^Napoleon died on the evening of May 5,
i82i.\/\/On that day the Governor went
early to Longwood, stayed there the
whole day, and did not return until all was

203

At St. Helena

over. i^ Mr. Henry gives an interesting
account of what followed :

^X " The important event of the day was naturally
the chief topic of conversation in the evening, as
Sir Hudson took a hurried dinner, previous to
writing his despatches; and, in bare justice to
an ill-used man, I can testify that, notwithstand-
ing the bitter passages between the great de-
parted and himself, the Governor spoke of him

■ in a feeling, respectful and most proper manner.
Major Gorrequer (the Military Secretary), Sir
Hudson and myself, walked for a short time
before the door of Plantation House, conversing^
on the character of the deceased. One of us
remarked that he was the greatest enemy
England ever had. 'Well, gentlemen,' said the
Governor, ' he was England's greatest enemy, and
mine too, but I forgive him everything. On the
death of a great man like him, we should only
feel deep concern and regret.' " *

On the next day Sir Hudson Lowe
■«^rote to Lady Holland : " The compas-
sionate interest which your Ladyship has
so constantly and in so generous a manner

* Henry ii. 80.
203

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

shown towards the remarkable person who
has been so long under my care, impresses
it as a duty on me to take the earliest
opportunity of informing you that he
breathed his last yesterday evening at
about ten minutes before six o'clock."
~>^0n the death of Napoleon the whole
importance of Sir Hudson Lowe's employ-
ment vanished. The unpopularity of having
been charged with that employment alone
awaited him.'/

204

CHAPTER IV

AFTER ST. HELENA

Sir Hudson Lowe left St. Helena at the
end of July, 'before his arrival in England
Lord Bathurst had written a despatch con-
veying to him the King's marked approba-
tion of his conduct during the whole period
of his government at St. Helena.'^ Sir
Hudson Lowe was presented to the King
on November 14 ; and, when he was
about to kiss His Majesty's hand, the
King took hold of his and shook it heartily,
saying : " I congratulate you most sincerely
upon your return, after a trial the most
arduous and exemplary that perhaps any
man ever had.v I have felt for your situa-

805

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

tion, and may appeal to Lord Bathurst
how frequently I have talked to him about
you." Soon afterwards he was appointed
to the first vacant colonelcy of a regiment
(the 93rd) that occurred after his return to
England.

^But evil days were at hand. In July
1822 came out O'Meara's A Voice from
St. Helena, and the sensation it produced is
well described by Sir Hudson Lowe him-
self " Public curiosity flew with eagerness
to the repast ; nothing was wanting to
satisfy the cravings of the most credulous,
the most inquisitive, or the most malignant
mind. The highest authorities were not
spared ; but / was destined to be the real
victim, upon whom the public indignation
was to fall." ^

.Upon this Sir Hudson Lowe resolved
to have recourse to the law for redress,
and the result was an application to the
•Court of King's Bench for a criminal infor-

306

After St. Helena

mation against 0'Meara.^^^uch time was
consumed in selecting the most libellous
passages from the book. The difficulty of
this task was great, owing to the peculiar
art with which it was composed and the
studied care taken to avoid any direct
accusation in points where any living testi-
mony could be referred to. Time was,
however, of the last importance, although
Sir Hudson was not aware of it. It was
not until the latter end of Hilary Term,
1823 — i.e., towards the end of the second
term after the publication of the libel — that
a rule nisi was applied for, and then it was
hinted by the ^ord Chief Justice that the
application was likely to be fruitless, simply j
on the technical ground that it was too late.'/
And so it proved, for when O'Meara's
counsel showed cause against the rule
being made absolute, he urged the fatal
objection that it was out of time, without

attempting to enter into the merits, and
307

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

this objection was upheld. v\t is certainly
very strange that the eminent counsel who
advised Sir Hudson Lowe should not have
informed him of this risk/ Sir Hudson
next consulted his legal advisers as to the
expediency of indicting O'Meara, or of
bringing an action for damages ; but his
counsel (Mr. Tindal) said with perfect
truth that the proper legal remedy had
been already resorted to for the vindication
of his character. He had cleared himself
from every charge upon his oath, and if
O'Meara challenged the truth of his denials
he might test them by prosecuting Sir
Hudson Lowe for perjury. But to assumfe
that a man's character is cleared in any
way by the refusal of a libeller to go on to
prosecute for perjury is a notion that would
occur to no one but a lawyer. It leaves the
game entirely in the libeller's hands. An
indictment, however, would not put in issue
the truth or falsehood of the accusations

308

After St. Helena

contained in the libel, for Lord Campbell's
Act was not then in existence. As to ^
civil action, it would be useless to incur the
risk of obtaining only small damages, which
would in reality be a triumph for the
defendant. p^In fact, Sir Hudson Lowe's
legal remedy was gone owing to the fatal
delay. '^ There was only one course now to
be pursued, and another fatal mistake wad
made in not pursuing it, VSir Hudson Lowe
should at once have vindicated his charactei'
by the publication of a complete account of
his Governorship, for which he had the
amplest materials, and the result could not
have failed to redound to his public creditV
Lord Bathurst, who was always his friend,
strongly urged Sir Hudson Lowe to take
this obvious course, and offered to place all
the state documents at his disposal. vHis
continued silence could not fail to impress
the public unfavourably. H o we ver innocent
a man may be, he cannot allow the foulest
209 o

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

charges to be brought against him and
expect no one will believe them. 1/1 n Jupiter
or Saturn things may be arranged diffe-
rently, but here the world judges, rightly
or wrongly, that a man who does nothing
to vindicate his character, when it has been
publicly aspersed, does not do so because
he cannot do so ; and in ninety-nine cases
out of a hundred the world's judgment is
correct. But Sir Hudson Lowe's happened
to be the hundredth case, and it cannot be
denied that his failure to do what his
position demanded brought on himself a
penalty which he kept on suffering to the
end of his life, and from which his memory
still suffers. AVe cannot be surprised that
Sir Hudson Lowe's enemies made the most
of his unaccountable silence, 'it is there-
fore most material to consider why he did
not follow the advice of Lord Bathurst and
the rest of his friends. A man may, it is
true, despise the opinion of the world and

210

After St. Helena

take no heed of calumny, either because
he has a contempt for his fellow-creatures
or from a motive of religion. But Sir
Hudson Lowe was neither a cynic nor a
saint. He lived for this world, and pro-
motion in his profession naturally depended
to a large extent on his retaining the good
opinion of the world. To complain of
calumnies, and yet to neglect the only steps
by which they can be abated, shows a
certain amount of wrong- headedness, for
which it is difficult to account completely.
However, some of the reasons by which
the ex-Governor was actuated in refusing
to make an appeal to public opinion may
be conjectured. ^/The scruples that stood
in his way are all those of a high-minded
man, but they do more honour to his heart
than to his head. First, then, Sir Hudson
Lowe despised his enemies, more especially
O'Meara.^ That individual was certainly
worthy of all the contempt which the ex-

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Governor felt for him ; but then the public
^id not know what Sir Hudson knew, and
it is simply a blunder to despise an adver-
sary who assumes to bring forward facts
and not merely his own opinions. Such
alleged facts, by whomsoever stated, must
be shown to be untrue. The consciousness
of having honourably discharged a difficult
duty does not, as Mr. Forsyth well remarks,
"inspire enthusiasm in others, or cause
friends to cluster round the object of
calumny and reproach." \/Secondly, Sir
Hudson Lowe thought that, as his conduct
had been heartily approved by the King
and Government, it was rather for the
latter than for himself to undertake his
defence. But surely this was expecting
too much"/ A body of men like a Govern-
ment can never act with the generosity of
an individual. They have seldom time or
inclination to vindicate the character of a
servant, unless their own stability is so

After St. Helena

much bound up with that servant as to
make his defence practically the same as
their own. This was not the case here.
It would not be too much to say that the
opposite of this was the case. If a Govern-
ment cannot be as generous as an individual,
it can, as a body, act with a meanness of
which most individuals would be ashamed,
and at this time the Government by sacri-
ficing Sir Hudson Lowe strengthened their
own position, and to a large extent took
the wind from the sails of the Opposition!,
When they were attacked for their ill-treat-
ment of Napoleon they could tacitly transfer
the odium of it to Sir Hudson Lowe, for
Mr. Forsyth puts it too mildly when he
says: "The Government ought to have
aided Sir Hudson Lowe more heartily and
effectually than they did."\/fn the third
place, and probably this weighed most of
all with the chivalrous nature of Sir Hudson,
who was intensely loyal to his King and
213

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

country, he clearly perceived that he could
not thoroughly defend himself without dis-
closing the shabby manner in which he had
been treated by the Government during
his term of office at St. Helena, ^e knew
that O'Meara's correspondence had been
encouraged by Cabinet Ministers, and that
intrigues behind his back had, to say the
least, not been discouraged. But I have
already dealt with this topic, and need not
repeat my words. It is evident that Sir
Hudson Lowe acutely felt the delicacy of his
position. But surely all his scruples should
have been set at rest by the strongly-urged
advice of Lord Bathurst to publish — Lord
Bathurst, who was himself one of the prin-
cipal members of the Cabinet, and wlio knew
more about St. Helena than all the rest.
^As a matter of fact, after the return of
Sir Hudson Lowe nothing was ever done
for him by the Government at all adequate
to his merits. ^He certainly received from

214

After St. Helena

them plenty of empty praise, but probitas
laudaturM alget {" honour is praised and
— ^left out in the cold "), for, f^hile those
who had served under him at St. Helena
were promoted on his recommendation,
nothing was done for himself.*^ Before he
ever went to St. Helena he had been
formally assured that JLord Liverpool had
said that, if he went, "it should not stop
there." Sir Hudson Lowe was then
advised by a friend of some experience to
stipulate for a pension before he went out,
but he did not follow the suggestion. He
felt too confident of the principles upon
which he should discharge the duty in-
trusted to him not to be assured that
recompense must follow. The employ-
ment was therefore accepted uncondi-
tionally and without his seeking to
establish any condition.* \/Colonel Wilks,

• See " Memoir," VniUA Service Magazine, June 1844
p. zgo.

215

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

his predecessor at St. Helena, was in
receipt of a pension of ^1500. Sir,
Hudson Lowe had no pension given to
himy It is said that Lord Liverpool was
prejudiced against him. The calumnies
of O'Meara may indeed have had this
effect. The writer of Sir Hudson Lowe's
life in the Dictionary of National Bio-i
graphy says : " The amount of his salary
(;i^ 1 2,000 a year) was specially fixed, and
no stipulation was made as to pension,
which explains the fact, upon which his
enemies remarked, that he was not after-
wards considered eligible for a pension.".
But surely this must be an error, or Sir
Hudson Lowe would, not so persistently
have urged his claim to a pension, "and we
never find that the obvious reply that he
was not eligible for one . was made, but
only that if it Was submitted to the House
of Commons they would not grant it.
The Government no doubt must have
216

After St. Helena

felt that they had riot treated Sir Hudson
Lowe fairly, and when the storm burst
upon his head they were not inclined to
help him, for the vigorous lines of Dryden
are ever true :

" Forgiveness to the injured doth belong.
But they ne'er pardon who have done the wrong.''

v^Another disadvantage under which Sir
Hudson Lowe laboured was that he knew
so few people in England at the time.
All his active military life, previous to his
departure for St. Helena, had been spent
in Continental service, and most of the
friends he then made were now dead, i^
Lord Bathurst offered him in 1824 the
government of the island of Antigua (a post
ridiculously below his merits), but family
reasons prevented him from accepting it.
-He was in the- following year appointed
to the command of the forces in Ceylon
with a promise of the reversion of the
Governorship. Agatin ill-luck followed
21?

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

him. The Governorship fell vacant near
the end of 1830, a very short time after
Earl Grey had become Prime Minister.
All hope of public employment was now
over for the time, for, as Mr. Forsyth
remarks, " neither Earl Grey nor his
colleagues could be expected to sympa-
thise much with the former guardian of
Napoleon's person, of whom it had been
so long the fashion of their party to
speak as the inhuman jailer of an injured
prisoner."

Sir Hudson Lowe's military command
in Ceylon terminated with his promotion
to the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1830
(in St. Helena he held this only as a local
rank), and^fter his return to England in
1 83 1 he was incessantly occupied in peti-
tioning — one might almost say pestering —
the Government for some office in recogni-
tion of his services, not merely on account

of his private means, which had become
218

After St. Helena

much reduced, but also as some answer
to the calumnies against him so indus-
triously circulated.^ But calumny and
uncontradicted lies had at last done their
natural work. Some of the mud so
copiously thrown had stuck, and stuck
effectually. In a memorial drawn up in
1843 Sir Hudson Lowe writes, after
alluding to the state of inactivity in which
he had been kept for twelve years : " The
government of the island of Ceylon had
thrice fallen vacant, and the chief authority
in the Ionian Islands (where my local
services at their liberation and in the
discharge of civil and military duties
subsequently had contributed to form a
strong claim for re-employment) four
times, during the period of which I have
been speaking. Vacancies had also arisen
in other stations. But on none of these
occasions were either my local or general
services, or any claim arising from past
219

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

disappointment, taken into that consi-
deration which I should have hoped might
have been deemed to be their due." But
it was not all gloom. Even the malice of
his foes gave occasion to the champion-
ship of friends who were above the
influence of party spirit. In 1833 Lord
Teynham made an attack on Sir Hudson
Lowe in the House of Lords. Speaking
of the government of Ireland, he said, in
reference to a proposal to intrust special
powers to the Lord- Lieutenant (the
Marquis of Normanby) : " Now suppose
the noble Marquis were to be succeeded
in the government of Ireland by a Sir
Hudson Lowe." Here he was called to
order, and when he had sat down the
Duke of Wellington rose, and asking
what the noble Lord meaint, said: "I
have the honour to know Sir Hudson
Lowe, and I will Sayj in this House or
elsewhere, wherever it maybe, that there

230

After St. Helena

is not in the army at more respectable
officer than Sir Hudson Lowe, nor has
His Majesty a more faithful subject," A
day or two afterwards Lord Teynham
made an abject apology, and in reply to
a letter of thanks from Sir Hudson Lowe
to the Duke for his prompt and generous
defence, the latter wrote as follows :

" Strathfieldsaye, Feb. ai, 1833.
" My dear General, — I have received your
letter of the 20th. I assure you that I con-
sidered that I did no more than my duty upon
the occasion to which you refer in repeUing a
very gross and marked insinuation against an
officer, in his absence, for whom I entertained
the highest respect and regard. The discussion
ended in a way that must be highly satisfactory
to all your friends. — Ever, my dear General,
yours most faithfully, Wellington.

" Lieut.^General Sir Hudson Lowe."

In 1842 Sir Hudson Lowe was much
gratified by his transfer from the colonelcy
of the 56th to that of his old regiment, the
50th, the regiment in which he had first

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

received a commission. In the same year
the King of Prussia advanced him to the
First Class of the Red Eagle of Prussia,
notified in a flattering letter from Baron
von Biilow, who recalled his " signal
services to the common cause in the
glorious campaigns of 1813-14."* He
was also made a G.C.M.G., an order
which at that time was confined to those
who had rendered service in connexion
with Malta or the Ionian Islands. We have
already said that none of the French exiles
bore any ill-will towards Sir Hudson Lowe
except the Las Cases, father and son. v One
day in November 1822, young Las Cases,
who was then in London, assaulted Sir
Hudson Lowe in the street, and after-
wards . sent him a challenge, which Sir
Hudson had the good sense and moral
courage to treat with the contempt it
deserved, v Another extraordinary inci-
* Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xxxiv. p. 193.

222

After St. Helena

dent connected with the same individual
occurred in 1825. Sir Hudson Lowe, as
may be gathered from what is already
written, was a man of the highest physical
as well as moral courage. Thus, in April
1 8 14, when he made a journey to England
to announce the fall of Paris (a service
which Lord Cathcart regarded as perilous
in the extreme) he rode from Paris to
Calais attended by a single Cossack,
v^o again in 1825, when on his way to
Ceylon, disregarding the advice of friends,
he determined to pass through Paris, It
seems that while Sir Hudson was ap-
proaching Paris in his carriage young
Las Cases was found wounded near a
spot by which Sir Hudson passed, and
it was reported that an attempt had
been made by Sir Hudson Lowe to
assassinate him!/ The Times commented
upon the rumour as follows : " Our readers
will see in our French letter a curious
223

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

result drawn from the supposed attempt
to assassinate young Las Cases. Sir
Hudson Lowe, lately at Paris, and
now on his way home,* is charged with
that attempt. We expected that such
would be the case; and it was by mere
chance that we did not make an obser-
vation to that effect when we inserted
the paragraph with the rumour of the
assassination. We have not the least
doubt but that the whole is a plot
against Sir Hudson. Some people will
say that he might as well have kept
away from Paris, unless he had urgent
business there ; others, that he did right
to show himself, in the consciousness of
an innocent heart and the pride of having
done his duty. We shall not decide upon
this point. We thought that the journey
to Paris exposed Sir Hudson to some risk,

* This was a mistake. He was on his way to Ceylon
at this time,

224

After St. Helena

without knowing of what kind the risk
might be. ^he moment we heard the
assassination story, we saw in what
way the Bonapartists were going to

^^he hoax was rather too palpable, and
nothing more was heard of it. On the
same journey Sir Hudson Lowe gave a
conspicuous example of his generosity.
While he was at Smyrna, and dining on
board H.M.S. Cambrian with Captain
Hamilton, the Secretary of the French
Consul proceeded to Sir Hudson Lowe's
lodgings with the avowed intention of
assassinating him. Not finding him in,
this worthy destroyed some of Sir Hudson's
property, and prepared to lie in wait for
his return, calling upon a friend to be
"witness of the revenge he was about
to take on the murderer and poisoner
of Napoleon." From doing this, however,

* Times, November 19, 1825.

225 P

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

he was prevented, and the matter becoming
known, the French Consul dismissed the
man from his employmentulPSir Hudson
Lowe, on receiving an assurance that he
should be no further molested, and learn-
ing that his would-be assailant had a large
family dependent upon him for support,
wrote that " he had no desire to take
any further steps in the affair, or to
stand in the way of any act of lenity or
consideration which the French Consul
himself might think fit to show towards
him." *\/ Such then was the vindictive
spirit exhibited by the "murderer and
poisoner " of Napoleon.

It is pleasing to record, on the authority
of his eldest son, that in spite of all his
troubles Sir Hudson Lowe was never
depressed. "This frame of mind ap-
peared to be one of which he was
always incapable. Up to his final seizure

* From an unpublished letter.
226

After St. Helena

with paralysis he had always abundant
Animal spirits. To say that he retained
his activity of mind and body and his
industry to the last would be inappro-
priate, as they may be rather considered
as having been too great for his strength." *
>d!^Iost men would have become embittered
or morose under the long persecution of
which Sir Hudson Lowe was the victim.
He died in January 1844 in comparative
poverty. ' Sir Robert Peel recommended
Miss Lowe, his unmarried daughter, to
the Queen for a small pension which at
the time was at his disposal, " in recog-
nition of the services of her father." This
lady still survives to cherish the memory
of a father whose domestic virtues have
never been , questioned by his bitterest
assailants. 1/

Such, then, was the career of Sir

* " Memoir," United Service Magazine, June 1844,
p. 294.

327

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

Hudson Lowe, a man of unstained
honour, of undaunted courage, of un-
flinching resolution. He was as much
devoted to duty as the Duke of Wel-
lington. With the latter "the path of
duty was the way to glory." With Sir
Hudson Lowe this was not the case ; but,
after all, there may be better things than
"glory." Sir Hudson Lowe has been
the most calumniated man of this — perhaps
of any — century. He has been charged
with giving way to ungovernable bursts
of temper ; Napoleon complained that he
could not make hirti lose his temper. He
has been charged with want of courtesy;
all Napoleon could say against him was
that on one occasion, after being assailed
with a torrent of abuse, he actually forgot
himself so far as to retire rather abruptly
and without the customary bow ! He has
been charged with want of delicacy; if he
had been less delicate he would have
228

After St. Helena

vindicated himself with more success.
He has been charged with brutality and
harshness in the discharge of his duty; the
only official hint of disapproval that he-
ever received from the Government was
on account of his leniency. It is said
there was persecution at St. Helena; it
is true, but Sir Hudson Lowe was the
victim of it, not Napoleon. The following
words of a military writer contain no
exaggeration :

"To have been charged with an amount of
responsibility from which most men would have
shrunk aghast ; to have performed a painful duty
with sleepless vigilance ; to have been exposed
from circumstances not of his own seeking to an
amount of obloquy almost without parallel in the
annals of party ; to have firmly carried out what
he had reluctantly undertaken — the safe custody
of a baffled tyrant; to have 'obeyed instruc-
tions,' and then to have been rewarded by
coolness and neglect when he might have
expected cordiality and praise, seems a hard
destiny. It was that of Sir Hudson Lowe."

229

Sir Hudson Lowe and Napoleon

It is to the honour of England that the
truth of this miserable affair should be
known, and the more widely it is known
the more will it become recognised that
Englishmen have no cause to be ashamed
of the conduct of Sir Hudson Lowe at St.
Helena.

r r r r r r r

230

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

1815. Oct. 15. Arrival of Rear-Admiral Sir George
Cockburn on board the Northum-
berland, conveying Napoleon and
his suite, including the surgeon,,
O'Meara.
i8i6. April 14. Arrival of Sir Hudson Lowe and
suite.
„ 16. First interview between Napoleon and

Sir Hudson Lowe.
„ 30. Second interview.
May 17. Third interview.
June 17. Arrival of Rear-Admiral Sir Pulteney
Malcolm on board the Newcastle
frigate, to succeed Sir George
Cockburn in command of the
naval station at St. Helena \ also of
the three foreign Commissioners.
July 17. Fourth interview.
231

Chronological Table

1816. Aug. 18. Fifth and last interview.

Dec. 30. Departure of Las Cases and his son,
1 8 18. March 14. Departure of General Gourgaud.

Aug. 2. Departure of O'Meara.
1 82 1. May 5. Death of Napoleon.

July 25. Departure of Sir Hudson Lowe.

232

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(The following list does not claim to be exhaustive.)

1. "Letters written on board the Northumberland

and at St. Helena, on Napoleon and his
Suite." By William Warden. London,
1816. 8vo,

2. " Manuscrit venu de Ste. Hdlbne d'une maniere

inconnue."* 2 vols. London, 1817. 8vo.

3. "An Appeal to the British Nation on the

Treatment experienced by Napoleon Bona-
parte in the Island of St. Helena." By
M. Santini, Porter of the Emperor's Closet.
London, 18 16. [This pamphlet was really
by Colonel Maceroni.]

4. " Letters from the Cape of Good Hope,

in reply to Mr. Warden." 181 7. [By
O'Meara.]

5. " Mdmoires de E. A. D. Comte de Las Casas."

Bruxelles, 18 18. 8vo.

6. The same, translated into English. London,

181 8. 8vo.

* By some attributed to Napoleon, but really by M. Lullin
de Chateauvieux.
\ So spelt in the titles of his books.

233

Bibliography

7. "Facts illustrative of the Treatment of

Napoleon Bonaparte." By T. E. H. [Theo-
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8. " An Exposition of some of the Transactions

that have taken place at St. Helena since
the appointment of Sir Hudson Lowe as
Governor of that Island." By B. E.
O'Meara. London, 1819. 8vo.

9. " Napoleon in Exile : or, A Voice from

St. Helena." By Barry E. O'Meara, Esq.,,
' his late Surgeon. 2 vols. London, 1822.

Svo.

10. "Memorial de Ste. H^lene : Journal de la vie

privee et des conversations de I'Empereur
Napoleon a Ste. Hdlene." Par le Comte de
Las Casas. 4 tom. Londres, 1823. Svo.

11. The same, translated into English. 4 vols.

London, 1823. 8vo.

12. "Derniers Momens de Napoleon." Par C. F..

Antommarchi. 2 tom. Paris et Londres,
1825. Svo.

13. The same, translated into English. 2 vols.

London, 1825. Svo.

14. " Life of Napoleon Bonaparte." By Sir Walter

Scott. 9 vols. London, 1827. Svo.

15. "Buonaparte's Voyage to St. Helena,- compris-

ing the' Diary of Sir George Cockburn
during his passage from England to St,
Helena in 1815." Boston [Mass.], 1S33.
i2mo.

23+

Bibliography

1 6. The same, with a Preface by T. S. Borradaile,

London, 1888. 8vo.

17. "Events of a Military Life." By Walter

Heniy, Surgeon to the Forces. First class.
Second Edition. 2 vols. London, 1843.
[VoL ii., pp. 1-97 have reference to St.
Helena.]

18. "Recollections of the Emperor Napoleon

during the first three years of his captivity on
the island of St. Helena." By L. E. AbelL*
London, 1844. i2mo.

19. Third edition of the same, revised and added

to by Mrs. C. Johnston. London, 1873,
8vo.

20. " Rdcits de la Captivitd de I'Empereur Napoleon

a Ste. H^ene. Par C. J. F. T. de Mon-
tholori. Marquis de Montholon-Sdmonville.
2 tom. Paris, 1847. 8vo.

21. The same, translated into English. 4 vols.

London, 1846- 184 7. 8vo.

22. "History of the Captivity of Napoleon at

St. Helena ; from the Letters and Journals
of the late Lieut.-General Sir Hudson Lowe,
and Official Documents not before made
public." By WiUiam Forsyth, M.A. 3 vols.
London, 1853. 8vo.

23. "Notes and Reminiscences of a Staff Officer,

chiefly relating to the Waterloo Campaign
and to St. Helena matters during the Cap-
tivity of Napoleon." By Lieut.-Colonel
Basil Jackson. [Printed for private circula-
tion.] London, 1877. 8vo.

* Mrs. Abell, formerly Miss Elizabeth Balcombe.j
235

Bibliography

24. "Berichte aus St. Helena zur Internirung

Napoleon Bonaparte's." Von B. F. v.
Sturmer, herausg. V. H. Schlitter. Wien,
1886. 8vo.

25. " Napoleon at St. Helena." By Barry Edward

O'Meara, his late Surgeon. 2 vols. London,
1888. 8vo. [A reprint of " A Voice from
St. Helena," with certain additions and
omissions.]

26. " La Captivity de Ste. Hdlene d'apres les rap-

ports inedits du Marquis de Montchenu."
Par Georges Firmin Didot. Paris, 1894,
8vo.

27. "United Service Magazine." October and

November, 1843; March- June, 1844.

28. "Quarterly Review." Nos. 31 (Oct. 1816),

32 (Jan. 1817), 34 (July 1817), 55 (Oct.
1822), 65 (Dec. 1825).

29. "Edinburgh Review." Nos. 59 (Dec. 1816),

73 (June 1822), 76 (May 1823).

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